Ancestral Destiny
by RorickTrevelyan
Summary: "There are two days that matter most to a man: the day he is born, and the day he finds out why," Basically a really long Arkos one-shot. It wasn't supposed to have to much plot but I accidentally wrote a whole story to go with it. Rated M for dark themes, and lemon in chap. 3. Chap. 4: Ancestral Triumph. War is upon us, and now we truly see who has destiny on their side.
1. Ancestral Destiny

_So I'd been wanting to write an Arkos oneshot for quite sometime, but then various plots I'd had in other dead stories fit this one and I accidentally wrote a real story, so enjoy. Reviews are always appreciated and thanks for reading!_

 _"There are two days that matter most to a man,_

 _The day he is born,_

 _And the day he finds out why."_

XXX

The building was cold, it always was.

The hallway was large, it always was.

The statues were huge, they always were.

Jaune had been having this dream for a long time, and each time more of the setting was revealed. This time he could clearly see definition of the great stone statues. Each sporting a simple sword and shield, much like his own. And at the end of the hallway, a great fiery cat roared into the stained glass around it. Each step he took added more flame to the cat's great mane. He could almost feel the fire warming his body. He saw a sword and shield silhouetted on the pedestal before the picture, and he could almost make out the words beneath them but the dream ended as he stepped into the light.

XXX

Jaune woke up with a strange feeling, a feeling of intense urgency and the rush to act. He blinked a few times trying to adjust to the light. Wait that couldn't have been right, it was the middle of the night judging by the clock. But the room around him glowed with a brilliant white light. He hadn't even woken up from the light, but from the sounds of his teammates. They scampered around thinking the worst as Jaune just stood. He wasn't quite sure what was really going on, but he knew one thing very clearly. That all of this, the white light, the feeling he had and even the thoughts of action and combat:

It was all very _familiar_ to him.

He felt extremely comfortable in this state, he felt as if he really belonged in it, even as his teammates stared at him with shock and worry.

He for once in his life felt like he was where he was supposed to be.

But just like the light, the feelings faded. And soon Jaune was left standing in the middle of his room, wearing his pajamas staring at his teammates. The silence was overbearing and the rushing thoughts were nearly audible. Perhaps unsurprisingly it was Jaune who spoke first.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow, you guys just get back to sleep."

The others hesitantly nodded and started to move back to their bed, and also unsurprisingly Pyrrha stayed and moved toward him. She gingerly put her hand on his shoulder hoping to comfort him, bun in truth he didn't need comforting.

But he wasn't going to turn down Pyrrha touching him.

" _Eisai kala_?" (Are you okay?) she asked softly. Jaune smirked a bit when she did. "I'm sorry, are you okay?" she asked. She had to remember he didn't speak Mistralian.

"Pyrrha I can honestly say," he began as he took her hand in his. "I'll be fine." He gave her his trademark goofy grin and it relieved some of her fears. But it was temporary. Jaune made his way into one of their bathrooms and leaned against the sink trying to relax again. He felt full of energy for once. Pyrrha trained him until he was just a rag doll most days, so tired that he didn't bother taking off his armor before collapsing on his bed. Between her training sessions and the everyday school work he felt like he should have burned out a long time ago. But every time he looked in the mirror and saw what he was turning into, a respectable and proper knight, he knew he couldn't stop. But it was getting to a point where he would have to start making decisions for himself.

To understand _who_ he was supposed to be instead of _what_.

He was Jaune Arc, a Huntsman-in-Training.

But what else was there? Who was he really?

XXX

Jaune felt his scroll vibrate at the exact time it had for the past four months under Pyrrha's training. He quickly shut it off and jumped out of bed taking his spot on the floor and beginning his crunches. Pyrrha had given him a workout plan early on that had only increased since then. He continued his crunches until he reached the last number of the set, switching then to push-ups. He expected fully to have Pyrrha come over and help adjust his sloppy form but nothing came. He looked over in the dull light to see her still sleeping, he checked the time again and it was right, she really was still asleep. He continued his workout without her, both a little disappointed and relieved that she was getting the rest she needed. Afterward relaxing with a nice hot shower, he gave more thought to what had happened earlier that morning.

Jaune was literally glowing. That stuff doesn't just happen. He tried to remember the dream he was having and it wasn't out of the ordinary for him. He'd had it for years, nothing seemed out of the ordinary until he really thought about it.

It started out the same way, a grand view in an ancient hall. Jaune didn't know what it was, but there were huge statues that surrounded him as he walked. He'd continue to walk the hall, looking at the statues until he woke up. Usually he couldn't really see their faces. He jerked from his daze when the water started to get cold. He quickly finished his routine and made his exit to see the light of early morning shine on his still sleeping teammates. He checked the time again and was indeed shocked. Usually at least Ren was awake, if not Pyrrha.

"Uh guys?" Jaune asked, trying to wake them up. "Guys?" He shook Ren's bed attempting to get him to at least stir. Finally after a few more minutes of failed gentle persuasion, he just flipped the main light switch and whistled as loud as he could. Pyrrha and Ren woke violently and predictably Nora didn't. They rubbed their eyes and both looked at the scrolls in shock. Ren shot out of bed, scrambling for his towel and change of clothes before Nora woke up so that he could take his shower. Pyrrha just sat on the edge of her bed gently cradling her head. "Uh, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked quietly.

"Hmm?" she asked. Her eyes were bloodshot and half-closed, as if they were beckoning her to close them again.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good," Jaune said quietly. Nora had just begun to stir.

"I'm okay, just didn't get much sleep last night."

"I told you not to worry about me."

"I couldn't help it," she said through a yawn. She stared at him through fluttering eye-lids and a lazy smile for a long time. Ren slammed out of the bathroom brushing his teeth while trying to brush his hair at the same time.

"Well why don't we get some breakfast, that should help a bit," Jaune suggested as Nora woke up.

Well she didn't really wake up, just more rolled out of bed and then jumped up in shock. They all nodded at the idea and joined Team RWBY in the dining hall like they did every morning. The weirdness kept coming when they saw Weiss wolfing down her food like her life depended on it.

"Weiss are you okay?" Ruby asked tentatively, afraid to meet her eyes apparently.

"I told you I'm fine Ruby, I'm just really hungry," she said with her bowl of Pumpkin Pete's in her mouth.

"This isn't hungry, this is like you haven't eaten anything in a couple days. You sure you're good?" Blake asked this time.

"You aren't asking Yang that question!" Weiss said sharply. The two turned toward Yang who was facedown in her empty plate. She hadn't eaten anything but instead seemed to have fallen asleep at the table.

"While that is interesting and a break from reality, it isn't as uncharacteristic as the usually reserved Ice Queen wolfing down her fourth bowl of what is, in her own words, 'disgusting unhealthy garbage disguised as food', so pardon our curiosity," Blake snapped. The two just stared at each other until Yang snapped up and muttered out the final words of her dream.

"Keep away from my unicorn!" Yang sat in silence as she tried to peel her eyes open, but soon just began to giggle madly.

The arguing young girls quickly lost all strife between them and joined in the maddening giggles of the sleepy brawler.

"So, rough night for you guys too?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah Yang didn't get much sleep last night," Blake confirmed. "Wait too?"

"Yeah!" Nora began with a shout, much to the dismay of a few people. "Jaune was glowing like a lighthouse at two in the morning, and then Ren didn't wake up with his alarm, which is probably even weirder because he always wakes up before me, sometimes even before Pyrrha because he likes to read those books he borrows from Blake and-." Ren quickly covered her mouth and sighed.

"Yes, we had a rough night," Ren said. It was odd, he was usually quiet and reserved. But his voice just didn't seem right, it was strained.

"Perhaps we just need a bit more rest tonight," Pyrrha said. Even the half asleep Yang noticed the difference in Pyrrha, she didn't look good at all. Pale skin, bloodshot eyes, shaky hands, the works. It was almost sad to see the proud Mistralian warrior reduced to this.

"Yeah, how about no plans, no long training hours, no crazy schemes. We just do our homework if we have any and just take long showers and go to bed," Jaune suggested. They all nodded and resumed eating. Ruby scooted off to the side and looked at Jaune.

"Maybe there's a bug going around?" Ruby asked quietly. Jaune looked around at some of the other students who were acting odd. They were all different, some where overly hyper when they were normally quiet, others the exact opposite. Some who were known for being happy were the opposite as well.

"I don't think this is sickness, least not any sickness I've ever seen," Jaune muttered.

"But what is happening?"

"I don't know."

XXX

"And that is the importance of knowing the ins and outs of your weapon, you never know how even the most seemingly useless parts of your weapon can be useful!" Port concluded. The class nodded and kept writing down, except for a few people. "Now let's have Mr. Arc come down, we can have a physical example of what I'm talking about."

Jaune nodded and moved down to the front of the class, drawing his sword and shield. He stood at the ready in the stance Pyrrha showed him, they shared a small smile at the same time.

"Now Mr. Arc has a perfect example of a classic long sword. May I?" the professor asked. Jaune nodded and handed the sword over. "Now we see here the beveling along both edges of the sword does what for the blade? Ms. Rose?"

"It creates a double edged blade," Ruby answered.

"Correct, this is my preferred style of blade as I believe it gives you more options in combat, but that is just a personal opinion. Now, Mr. Arc's blade has a very stylized pommel, can anyone tell me the uses for the pommel?"

Nora raised her hand this time with her trademark mischievous grin.

"Ms. Valkyrie?"

"It's ta hit stuff with!" she said excitedly. There were a few giggles that sprung from her comment.

"That is one use for them yes, and the way Mr. Arc's is made it would certainly stun an opponent. Now we could sit here and talk about combat, or we could actually observe it. Are you ready Mr. Arc?"

Jaune nodded as the professor opened the cage letting the Ursa charge at Jaune.

Luckily for Jaune Pyrrha's training had meant that this particular Ursa was not as difficult to kill as his first Ursa. The Ursa's right paw slammed downward as it neared him. Jaune dashed forward underneath the striking paw and sliced at the on the front left. The Ursa's weight was suddenly unsupported and it collapsed. Jaune reset himself as the Ursa got back up. It limped and stood up to slam back down in front of him. Jaune moved back and the split second the Ursa landed Jaune leaped forward bringing the pommel of his sword straight into the hard mask. The sound was harsh and many students winced at hearing it. The beast whined and changed it tactics. It swipe with one paw but only after hiding away it's injuries. Jaune couldn't get anywhere close to it. He kept taking the hits with his shield but it was clear that he couldn't keep this up forever. He paused for a minute as the Ursa readied itself. He felt something move in his arms and before he knew it he chucked his shield like a discus. It collided with the same spot the pommel did earlier and made the beast rush back in pain. Jaune held his sword out straight and caught the shield with the sword. Soon after the sword began to move around and transform as other weapons did. He rushed forward and swung his newly transformed hand-and-half sword straight through the Ursa's skull leaving it just a crumpled heap on the ground.

Everyone took turns analyzing the events they'd seen with shock. But none of them eclipsed Jaune's shock. First of all, he never threw his shield. The only reason Pyrrha did at all was because she could manipulate it to always make it return. He didn't even know why he did, in all honesty it felt like his arms were just moving on their own. He panted heavily as he stared at the dead Ursa. His weapons were really old, his Great-Grandfather had used them. They shouldn't have transformed, but there was a large blade sitting inside of the Ursa's broken skull telling him differently. Jaune finally pulled the sword out and held it to his side. There was now one issue that he really didn't want to bring up.

He didn't know how to change it back.

"Well done Mr. Arc, I'm pleased you are learning to use your weapon in different forms at last! Please take your seat."

"Yes sir," Jaune said. He slowly started to drag the sword with him. It looked like his normal sword but just longer, a bit wider and a lot _heavier_ than his other one. He wished he could have kept listening to the lecture but now he was extremely confused. With all that had happened he now feared for the safety of his team, if he couldn't understand what was happening to him it could be disastrous. But as he was looking over toward Pyrrha, who could barely keep her eyes open, he realized that disaster may have already been on it's way.

XXX

"Oh yeah, they're affected," Emerald said with a smirk, barely containing her laughter.

"You can't miss it, the sight of all those proud huntsmen and huntress' so broken," Mercury couldn't help but laugh. "It's almost perfect."

"And we're not done yet," Cinder reminded. She took her seat and began going over the list again. Her usual smirk was now a scowl. "Be wary, because right now the air is thick. People are going to start noticing, whether they want to or not, so be careful. No slip ups, no accidents, nothing." They nodded and left the room. The heavy atmosphere becoming even stronger.

XXX

"Yes it's heavy!"

"Shouldn't it weigh the same as your other sword?" Ren asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know!" Jaune retorted. "My weapons shouldn't transform, they don't change, they're just a sword and shield. They don't even have names!"

Ren lowered his head for a moment.

"Jaune who do you remind me of?" Nora asked.

"What?"

"Well with the shaggy blonde hair and the giant sword you remind me of someone, but I can't remember who! And it's really bugging me, cause I feel like I should know especially cause of how long I've known you but oh well I'll figure it out later." She swung the sword around again and busied herself playing with it, since it was close to her preferred weapon, and Pyrrha had nodded off while they could rest. He couldn't help but feel something pull him towards Pyrrha, he hated seeing her like this. He rubbed the back of his neck thinking about what was happening, Ren joined him.

"Are you feeling okay Ren?" Jaune asked. Ren looked up slightly, still trying to work out the kink in his neck.

"I guess I didn't sleep well last night either," he answered.

"There are a lot of people who didn't sleep well," Jaune muttered. "Look maybe we're all imagining it. Maybe we're so attuned to being in danger that we're creating these scenarios when in all reality, maybe it is just a bug going around. Maybe we just need to take a deep breath-."

"They're asleep Jaune," Nora said with a giggle. Jaune turned to see Ren slumped over on his bed, snoring lightly.

"Great," Jaune muttered again. Jaune grabbed his weapon from Nora and attached it to his jimmy-rigged harness he now sported. "Let's go to class, Nora."

"Shouldn't we wake them up?"

"I'll tell Professor Oobleck that they aren't feeling well, at this point it's probably better to let them rest." They looked over them as they left. "We still don't know what's going on."

XXX

"So what's goin' on today?" Mercury asked lazily, he leaned against the lunch table nursing the soda he'd just bought.

Emerald just crinkled her nose. "How can you drink that syrupy crap?"

"The same way you can drink that over sugared whipped cream," he said pointedly. "Oh that's right, it's supposed to be coffee."

"At least coffee won't kill me with brain cancer," Em retorted.

"No, you'll just get diabetes with the fifteen pounds of sugar you put in the damn cup."

"You two," Cinder said. It was her usual tone, heavily laced with malice but high enough in pitch it would sound endearingly sweet to any random person walking by. "It will happen in one hour, prepare yourselves and be ready."

"Wait, I thought we weren't doing that until next week?" Em asked.

"That is part two, this is the test run. You'll be looking for the top four. After that we'll begin with the others." The bell rang signifying the end of lunch. "And Emerald?" she asked.

"Yeah boss?"

"Mercury does have a point, lighten up on the sugar."

"Told ya," Mercury said with a smirk.

"I can shoot you and get away with it," Em reminded.

XXX

"Well it's simply ludicrous!" Oobleck pointed out. Jaune sighed and tried to agree, but the speeds the man spoke at boggled the mind.

"I know, I'll be taking notes for them and doing everything I can do. But believe me it was the best thing for them," Jaune defended. "You saw Pyrrha, she couldn't keep her eyes open!"

"It isn't that, my boy, believe me I am well aware and extremely pleased you have stepped up to do this as their leader!" Oobleck told him. "What I believe is ludicrous is that they are not the first students to have done that today, and of all days when we were talking about the history of our training!"

"They aren't?"

"No, in fact some of the students who have been visiting have also elected to recover from what I can only presume is perhaps the oddest sickness I've ever seen!" Oobleck dashed off and took his place at the front of the classroom. Jaune's uneasiness grew ever and ever stronger every time he looked over at empty chairs or heard the whispers.

"Well at least Team RWBY is whole anyway," Nora said with an uneasy smile. Jaune had been teammates with her for months now, and her smile never wavered. But the fact is that it was slowly disappearing and it made Jaune even more uneasy.

It was made even worse when he saw the same expression on Ruby's face about Yang and Weiss. Yang looked like she was about collapse at any minute and Weiss looked grumpier than usual.

That was a feat in of itself.

"Welcome class, today we're going to be continuing our discussion of the history of Hunters, specifically their training! It is just as important to know why we train, as opposed to just doing it!" Oobleck began his tirade of mad dashes and light speed lectures. Jaune was careful to take the best notes he could, these were for Pyrrha after all, and though Nora was supposed to be doing the same thing for Ren, she rarely took notes on her own anyway. Jaune kept looking back down to Ruby who shared the constant range of emotions.

He watched as Ruby nudged Yang to wake her up for the fourth time in less than fifteen minutes. He sighed as he looked over at Nora. She was trying so desperately to cling to her smile, never letting it get to her. But she would look at the empty desks between them and mourn silently. Jaune was right beside her, almost physically lamenting the fact that Pyrrha wasn't there. He hadn't realized how much he had come to rely on her, not just for the physical training but for the support she gave him. Even just sitting beside him helped him more than she knew.

"Now who can tell me why we spend time training our mental states?" Oobleck asked. Weiss raised her hand slowly.

"We train our minds to be sharp, to be problem solvers, and to be unshakable," Weiss recited. She of course would know, as the smartest student, besides Pyrrha.

"An excellent answer, yet still incorrect! Training our minds is important, but I asked why we constantly train to improve our mental states!" The silence echoed after his umpteenth sip of coffee. "Our minds are powerful, but like every powerful weapon it can be easily turned against it's wielder. Thanks to the rigorous training that Beacon and the other academies in the other kingdoms, we no longer need to fear what our forefathers did, the possibility of mind-control." He dashed back grabbed his thermos and emptied into the paper cup he clung to. "There are some semblances that can actually influence the minds of opponents, so it is not unheard of to be influenced into making a bad choice, however what I'm talking about is total control. To have someone so completely under the whim of someone else that they follow orders without question. Often times without reluctance or compassion."

"How do we stop that?" one student asked. Jaune was writing as much as he could when it dawned on him.

"We do that by being in control," Oobleck said matter-of-factly. "As simple as it sounds it is anything but, having total control and discipline of your mind is crucial. Thankfully as part of our curriculum most students master this within weeks. Therefore to be under the control of someone else, you would need to be nearly broken! And that is a preposterous idea that anyone would try!" Oobleck rushed back to his desk and shuffled his papers about.

"Jaune?" Nora asked. Jaune's eyes widened and he dropped his pen. Just as he was about to stand up a massive explosion ripped through the walls and the classes. Jaune pulled himself out of the wall and sped down the hallway. His new sword clattering against his back loudly as he turned down the narrow halls leading to the dorms. His worst fears were realized when he saw Pyrrha and Ren in full combat gear walking down the smoky hallways.

"PYRRHA!" Jaune yelled out, she turned to meet his gaze and he was heartbroken. Both of their eyes were clouded in a sickly yellow flame. They turned again to leave, not saying anything. "Wait, stop!" Jaune pleaded. He narrowly dodged the first round fired from Pyrrha but was forced to stop when Ren laid a straight line of fire down in front of him, sending a wall of flame to separate them. Jaune steeled his nerves and leaped through the fires but was met with Pyrrha's shield. Ren dive kicked him after that, sending him into the wall and blacking out his vision. He looked up again and they were gone. He rushed to find them but he was too late. He could see the airship taking off and flying away, he could feel it in his gut.

Pyrrha was gone.

XXX

"The total as of right now is sixteen students injured. There were no deaths, thankfully," Glynda said from behind her clipboard. Ozpin's fists clenched tightly on the table, Glynda could see the white from her position across the room.

"What of the students who are missing?" he asked, still staring at the screen on his desk.

"We've received no word of their whereabouts," she added quietly.

"Keep me informed, as soon as something changes, I want to be the first to know."

"Yes sir, shall I send for Qrow?"

"Yes, tell him what we know, as little as it is, he might be able to help."

XXX

"We've gotta help them!" Ruby said through tears. Blake held her tightly as she wept. Nora was close to that state too but she tried to stay strong for Ruby. Jaune just paced around the room, the now larger sword clattering across his back loudly. Blake tried to get him to calm down but she was distracted with the two girls.

Blake herself was close to breaking down, she had just lost her partner and her best friend in one go and they had no idea where she was. Blake tried to be strong for Ruby but it was getting harder, and Jaune wasn't doing a thing to help them.

"I know Ruby, but we need to calm down and make a plan." Blake kept trying to console them and hint at Jaune but he was too focused. He kept muttering to himself as he paced back and forth. "Right Jaune?" Blake asked. Jaune kept pacing, his forehead was beading with sweat and his fists balled tightly. "Jaune?" Still no answer, he was muttering faster now and the girls watched as he started to do something even more unusual. "Jaune?!"

He was glowing again, and now he was nearly frantic in his ramblings. Until he stopped, eyes wide and jaw hanging low.

"WITHDRAWALS!" he shouted suddenly. He turned to see all three girls staring at him wide-eyed. "What?"

"Jaune you're doing that glow-y thing again," Nora said suddenly. Jaune looked down at his hands and realized she was right.

"Whatever that's not important!" he shouted. "Get armed and meet me at Professor Ozpin's office!" Jaune made a mad dash down the hallways and nearly ran over students on the way. Ruby was the only one who made it to the office with him thanks to her semblance. Jaune broke through the doors startling the faculty in the office and finally he skidded to a stop right before Ozpin. "I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!" Jaune shouted, he quickly hunched over trying to catch his breath. The teachers and Ruby watched as he tried to catch his breath.

"I somehow doubt that," Qrow muttered as he took a swig from his flask.

"Hi uncle Qrow!" Ruby said.

"Well then Mr. Arc," Ozpin said calmly. Jaune looked up just as Ozpin sat down. "The floor is yours."

XXX

"That went well," Em said with a smirk. She looked at the four Huntress' standing before them with clouded eyes. "Though why we chose these four I'll never know."

"I don't know, I'm kinda looking forward to this," Mercury dragged his fingers over Yang's chin. Emerald shuddered and felt her stomach churn. "'sides, it's not like they're gonna remember any of this." He was about to move his hands lower when a small dart of flame pierced his hand, he recoiled in pain and uttered his usual curses.

"Mercury," Cinder scolded. She had regrown her trademark smirk. "These are not pawns for _your_ enjoyment, we have business to conclude."

"Yeah, whatever."

"What was that?" she asked. Mercury felt his blood chill at the question.

"Yes, Ma'am," Mercury corrected quickly.

"That's better."

Em looked toward Merc with a definite smugness on her face, making the classic whip noises.

"At least I'll get some when this is over," Merc sneered.

"Fine then I call dibs on blonde one." She sauntered away leaving Mercury in the dust.

"Damn it."

XXX

"You're sure?" Qrow asked, with his mouth agape.

"I think so, it all makes sense."

"That's what scaring me," Qrow buried himself in his flask again.

"It would explain many things, but now the question remains," Glynda stated staring Jaune up and down. "How did you figure it out?" she asked incredulously.

"I saw Pyrrha and Ren before they disappeared, they both attacked me for one, and then Ren kicked me in the face and blacked me out. But I remember their eyes, they were covered in this fiery stuff."

"That usually isn't pretense for mind control."

"But it makes the most sense."

"My boy, did you not hear my lecture?!" Oobleck said out of nowhere, jarring the remaining team. Blake, Ruby, Nora and Jaune stood surrounded by teachers and Qrow. "It would take a monumental strain of one's mental state to even begin thinking of mind control!"

"And they were going through that! It's not a sickness, it's something else entirely."

"Then what is it? And what does it have to do with my niece?" Qrow asked angrily. Jaune took a deep breath and tried to regain some composure.

"What is the one thing no one in the world wants to admit they're going through?" Jaune asked quietly, looking directly at Qrow. "I'm sure you've had your periods of drying out right, it's hard it wears on you. All you can do is think about what you can't have and it starts to eat at you. Soon you realize you can't focus."

"Wait, you're saying that my seventeen year old niece was going through withdrawals?" Qrow asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. The others looked at Jaune with an impressive amount of skepticism, but Ozpin let him continue.

"Yes I am, and they did the same to Pyrrha, Ren, and Weiss. They got them addicted to-something I don't know-and then took it away, and I know what they put it in."

"The food!" Blake yells suddenly.

"Exactly, that's why Weiss was overeating. Because subconsciously she was used to getting something from food that she wasn't getting any more!" Jaune said frantically. The faculty grows quiet, trying to absorb all of this.

"Then what was the explosion for?" Glynda asked.

"A distraction, no one's going to question when they can't find four kids in a panic situation. But they didn't expect Pyrrha and Ren to be sleeping in our room. If it had gone the way they wanted, they would have vanished without a trace, but I had to check on them."

"Why were they chosen at all?" Ruby asked.

"Combat scores," Ozpin said suddenly. "They were among the top first year-students, easily the best warriors in the school."

The silence was pressing heavily against them.

"We still don't know where they are," Ozpin said. His voice was low, and tinted with frustration.

"The ship was heading west," Glynda said. "We could run a trace on ships in that direction."

"That could take weeks," Qrow reminded.

"I think I might know, this might sound weird but hear me out,"

"As opposed to the rest of the situation?" Qrow asked.

"You said they went west, are there any mausoleums there?"

"What?"

"Okay, I've been having the same dream for like three months, it's a huge hallway with marble statues on either side. There's a huge stained glass window on the back of the room with what looks like a big cat on it." Jaune struggled to remember, even though he'd been having the dream for a while he was still hard pressed to remember the small details.

"What like a puma?" Ruby asked.

"Kinda?"

"Mr. Arc," Ozpin said suddenly. "I am not sure how, but you may have saved four students lives." The faculty turned shocked as Ozpin threw up a holographic image of a small building located two hours away. "I want the remainders of the two teams to get ready and meet at the airship in twenty minutes. You're going to go find them. Glynda I want you and Qrow to find the rest of the students who are afflicted, if we can discern what they were attacked with we might make their job easier."

Glynda and Qrow shared the same look of skepticism, but nodded and moved away.

"What is that place?" Ruby asked.

"It's the Sepulchrum, a resting place for heroes of war. At least it used to be, now it's a leftover of a war that no one wants to remember," Ozpin lamented.

"Why are they there?"

"Who would look for an army growing among the honored dead? Another slap in the face to those who would stand against them." Ozpin sipped his coffee nervously and moved from behind his desk. "If the four of you can find them we might be able to save their lives. But I implore you do not approach them unless it is absolutely unavoidable, we've lost four students today, I'd rather not lose eight."

"Sir who are we dealing with, is it Torchwick?" Ruby asked.

"No, someone worse, we believe they were the ones pulling the strings and commanding over Torchwick." The team turned to leave, Jaune leading the way. "Please be careful," Ozpin warned again.

"Ruby why don't you take the others down to the airship, I want to talk to the professor for a moment."

XXX

"Have the black haired one stand guard outside, the Ice Queen and the Harlot will guard the doors and Ms. Nikos will be with us in main room," Cinder instructed.

"What are we doing?" Emerald asked. Mercury set Ren up and gave him his orders.

"You'll be with me, planning the next phase, but that can wait."

"What is the next phase?"

"The acquisition of the next batch of recruits, and eventually breaking the idiot out of jail," Cinder deposited Pyrrha in the main room for her to guard. "But as I said that can wait."

"Wait for what?" Mercury asked jogging up to them.

"I'm going to have a meeting with Mercury, so Emerald you'll need to find a way to pass the time for about an hour," Cinder grabbed Mercury by the hair and started pulling him away. Mercury gulped and tried to follow but Em just smirked and made the whip noises all over again.

"Can I at least borrow the blonde one?"

"No."

"Aww." Em kicked her feet for a few minutes before starting a new game on her scroll.

XXX

"What did you talk to Ozpin about?" Ruby asked. Jaune looked up out of his daze as they made their way to the building. The airship put them about a thirty minute hike from the building.

"Something I need to say a long time ago, getting the last of it out of the way I guess."

"Seriously! You remind me of someone, maybe you know Ruby! The shaggy blonde hair, the giant sword, and right now he's being really broody and it's making it worse! Who do you remind me of?!" Nora asked growing even more frustrated with each word.

"What?" Ruby asked slightly confused.

"Look let's just focus, we don't know what to expect. These guys won't recognize us, they can hear us but they won't hesitate to attack. Blake and Ruby, you two run recon. Tell me what you see."

They nodded and dashed off. Jaune readied his sword, still upset that he couldn't change it back. He and Nora exchanged glances and Jaune was relieved she was smiling again, even if it was temporary. The woods shifted under the winds until they returned. Blake landed first with Ruby trailing seconds later.

"What'd you find?

"One guard at the main doors, no others but I could hear others in the compound. White Fang."

"Anyone we know at the door?"

"Unfortunately, it's Ren," Ruby said quietly. Jaune cursed silently as Nora dashed away madly.

"Nora!" Jaune whispered harshly, but she was already gone.

Nora crashed through the foliage and ran towards Ren. She wasted no time in trying to hug him but he redirected her and ended up behind her. He had his guns out in a moment and pointed at her head. Jaune and the others rushed to her aid but weren't expecting what happened. It was quiet for too long, he moved around her keeping his gun locked squarely on her head. He finally made eye contact with her and moved toward her. Nora stood staring down the barrel of his gun as her smile started to melt away.

"You do not belong here," Ren said. His voice was strained, he was trying not to say it seemed. Jaune and Ruby started working though a plan together but their silence was shattered by Nora's resounding sobs.

"You liar!" she shouted through her tears. She stomped her foot and balled her fists up tight. "I should have known you'd leave! You're just like all the rest!" She started to swing at him but they were feeble and easily pushed aside. "You promised when we met at the orphanage, you said we'd always be together, you said we'd make it! But you left, just like all the rest!" She collapsed to her knees and cursed at him more and more. Blake and Jaune watched helpless as two White Fang turned the corner and started threatening Nora. But she didn't hear them, she was crying too loudly.

"Hey get up!" the first one yelled. Nora shook her head and kept crying at Ren's feet.

"You promised me Ren! You promised!" she cried out.

"I said get up!" The butt of his rifle struck her back loudly, she collapsed in front of Ren.

Nora just kept crying.

"I ain't gonna tell you again," he growled. She tried to move toward Ren but the man stepped on her hand.

Nora just kept crying.

The man bowed back to strike her again but he was cut off, Jaune watched as Ren nearly cut off his hand with his blades. He turned to the other one and started attacking him, disarming and knocking him out in seconds. He turned back to the first one and growled at him. He picked him up by the throat and held him off the ground. He dropped him into a step kick aimed square into his chest. Nora looked up just as Ren started walking back toward him. She tried to hit him again but he pulled her into a deep hug.

"I'm here," he said. He pulled her deeper into the hug as she cried. Jaune and the others came out soon after. They watched silently as Ren comforted her. He'd broken out of it, he was Ren again.

"Intense surge of emotions can break the hold on their minds," Jaune noted. "We might not have to actually fight them."

Ren looked around for a moment and nodded to Jaune, "Pyrrha's in the main room." He pulled Nora apart and looked into her eyes. "Nora, I need you to punch me in the head really hard."

"Okay." She complied quickly and he was unconscious in moments. The others stared at her for a bit.

"You were a bit too eager to do that," Blake commented.

"I'm still a little upset," Nora admitted.

"Come on let's get inside before they find us." Jaune ducked inside first making sure the coast was clear.

"So what was all that Nora?" Ruby asked quietly.

"He promised," was all she said with a small smile.

XXX

Nora sat on the bed kicking her legs as she usually did. She clutched the small toy tightly as the sisters talked behind her. They said the same things she'd heard them say a hundred times. They were trying to get her adopted, but no one wanted her. She wasn't cute or smart like the other girls. Even as she turned ten last month, the age when all the other girls would get adopted, she was passed over usually. And it seems like it was the same now. The voices departed leaving her alone in quarters again.

She hated the quiet.

She started talking to her stuffed Ursa about her day, making up stories to keep the quiet away. She named him Balder, and he was her friend. The other girls in the orphanage liked Nora, but they all left too quickly for her to make real friends. So Balder stayed with her, he was her friend.

"And that was my day, what happened with you Balder, what did you do?" she asked quietly.

"Who's Balder?" a voice asked. Her eyes widened and she looked quickly around the room to see a young boy with long black hair, just about her age staring down at her toy. She smiled a little and shoved Balder into his face.

"This is Balder, he's my friend!" Nora said happily. The boy was surprised and stayed quiet for a minute, she didn't like that. "He's the one I tell all my stories too, but they're all imaginary cause I don't leave the building. I don't have adventures like I want to. But I do have pretty crazy dreams, so I make my adventures from them." She pulled Balder into her arms again and began kicking her feet again. The boy sat down in front of her and smiled as he joined in too. Her smile grew as they kicked at each others feet.

"I'm Lie Ren," the boy said.

"That seems hard to say a lot, can I call you Ren?" Nora asked. He smiled at her with a nod and motioned to her. "I'm Nora Valkyrie, well that's what the sisters say my name is, but I don't know if that really is. But I like Nora cause it sounds cool and maybe I can find my real mom someday and ask her what my real name is, so are you like me too?" Nora asked.

"Like what?" Ren asked after a moment. Nora's face fell for a minute but she tried to cling to her smile.

"Like you don't have parents," she said. He stayed quiet for a moment. She knew it, he hated her now, she was going to be alone again and then there was going to be more quiet in her life.

"Kinda," Ren said quietly. She looked into his eyes and saw the mixture of emotions there-in. He was happy, she could see that sparkle, but there was also some sadness and madness in there. Madness, is that a word? But she could see it. He didn't say much, he didn't have too. She could see it.

"Huh?" Nora asked.

"I was adopted about a year ago," he was quiet as always but his eyes were loud. They were practically screaming at her, loud enough that she didn't notice the quiet when he stopped talking.

"Then what are you doing here? You won! You're king of the castle! You should be at your castle celebrating your victory!" she said triumphantly. She stood on her bed and struck her victorious pose, and Ren laughed. She looked down and was awestruck, his laughter was just as quiet as he was but it sounded like a waterfall.

"Well my parents wanted to adopt another child, they were thinking a girl," Ren said. It was silent for a few more moments as the gears in Nora's head started working.

"WAIT! I'm a girl! That means I'll get to be queen! I'm gonna be 'queen of the Castle'!" Nora said victoriously. Ren couldn't help but giggle at the sudden proclamation. She laughed too but sat down again and looked down again. "They probably won't pick me though," Nora said in her usual tone.

"Why not?"

"No one really picks me," she said with a defeated sigh. "They talk like they like me but they never pick me. I've been here for a long time, it's just been me and Balder." Nora got quiet again, and this time she couldn't even look into his eyes because he was looking away.

"Well my parents want to adopt a girl, why don't we go ask?" Ren asked. Nora leapt at the opportunity and hugged him tightly.

"Let's go, Ren!"

XXX

"Alright the coast is clear let's go," Jaune said quietly. The team moved slowly down the halls, making sure to keep a constant watch on their surroundings. Blake was on point, her enhanced senses making the trip easy. The remainder of the White Fang they'd run into were quickly taken out by Ruby or Blake since they had the most experience with this.

"We have trouble," Blake said quietly.

"What kind?" Jaune asked.

"Yang and Weiss," Blake confirmed. Jaune shook his head.

"Okay look we got lucky with Ren, we can't risk that with these two."

"But Ren snapped out of it, they could too," Ruby said hopefully.

"They bombarded Ren with emotion, maybe we could do it to them," Blake suggested.

"But what can we do?" Nora asked. They all thought for a moment before Jaune sighed.

"Blake get ready to catch me." Jaune dove out and readied his sword. He got both of their attentions quickly but Yang jumped at him first getting ready to pound him into the dust. Jaune moved out of the way and reached his hand out as she landed. Weiss also thrust at him but she was thankfully knocked aside by Yang's landing. He kept dancing around them until he stood at one end of the hallway, in clear view of Ruby and the others as they readied themselves. He stood in front of them and held out his hand triumphantly. He opened his hand and let three or four bright golden strands fall.

"Oh no," Ruby whispered.

Weiss in her state didn't realize what was happening until she felt the heat building up beside her and heard the monumental cry, throwing her into the wall and knocking her unconscious.

"YOU LITTLE DICK!" Yang screamed out, her eyes were still fiery, but now it was her classic fire red. Jaune put his sword up in an attempt to block the strike but it just gave her a bigger target. "I'M GONNA RIP ALL YOUR TEETH OUT AND SHOVE IN BACKWARDS, YOU ASSHOLE!" Yang screamed as she rushed to destroy him. She made contact with him but a thin black ribbon saved him from colliding into the wall. Jaune tried to get himself up but the hit was strong. Ruby dashed out and hugged Yang tightly.

"You're okay!" Ruby squealed happily. She was near crushing her sister who clutched her head tightly.

"What happened? Why are we all here, and why did Blondie just shear part of my hair?"

"You were under mind control, look get Weiss and Ren to safety, then meet us back here," Jaune told her, picking himself up.

"Why what happened to Ren and Weiss?"

"I knocked out Ren and you knocked out Weiss!" Nora said. Yang slowly turned and saw Weiss stirring beside them. Though she'd been knocked out, the fire was still in her eyes and she stood ready for another attack.

"How do we do this?" Yang asked frantically.

"We overloaded you and Ren with emotions, you got anything?" Yang thought for a moment and moved up close to Weiss with a devilish smirk.

Weiss bowed back to strike.

"I caught you reading Blake's dirty books in the room last week. It sounded like you were enjoying yourself!" Yang said, her tone was sweet and innocent, an interesting juxtaposition of what she was talking about. Weiss' eyes widened and her face grew an intense shade of red, the fire just melted out of her eyes. Everyone else joined her in the shock. Blake just facepalmed.

"How DARE you assume that I would _ever_ do anything so lewd?!" she asked. Her voice was almost unnaturally high-pitched. She inhaled to defend herself again but lost the will as she just grasped her temples tightly. "Why does my head hurt?" she asked feebly.

"Mind control through addiction withdrawals, I'll explain later but right now Nora and Yang need to go get Ren and make sure he's okay. Ruby you and Blake stay here with Weiss, get her up to speed, I'll get Pyrrha."

"You can't go in there by yourself," Weiss started but Jaune was already gone. He took a minute or two to plan what he was going to do. But like always he just said screw it and ran for the door. He burst through the main doors and charged past Pyrrha, hoping to avoid what he knew he had to do sooner than later. Emerald jolted up and fired, but Jaune was able to dodge the bullets and close the distance. Pyrrha turned to attack him but Jaune kept avoiding her. He was focused for the moment on Emerald, and had her pinned. Even with her kusari-gama, she couldn't keep him at the right range. Pyrrha's shield collided with the back of his head and sent him stumbling into Emerald's chains. Emerald had him restrained letting his sword clatter on the ground. He tried to fight it but it was no use, that's when he noticed two things:

His sword had started changing back into the sword and shield he was comfortable with and that Pyrrha was charging him with her spear readied. He slammed his foot down on his shield and kicked it, sending it flying at Emerald's head, then using her chains against her by spinning his own body and slamming Emerald into Pyrrha. The two skidded back a few feet and let Jaune grab his weapons again, this time he stood ready. Pyrrha swung first, he was lucky that he'd trained against her for so long, he had an inkling of how to fight her. But Emerald was a different story, she was crazy swinging the chains around like no tomorrow and Jaune was hard pressed with the two.

Jaune once again felt his muscles moving without his consent, spinning around in a circle with his sword out, somehow that managed to threw Emerald off and keep Pyrrha on the defensive. Jaune knew enough that she wasn't defensive all the time so this was his chance. He dashed forward and slammed his shield on Pyrrha's, which is what she wanted. She spun to the right but Jaune countered her. Slamming her sword arm with his shield so that her arm flew back. She instinctively put her shield up but Jaune took her legs out with a kick to her left knee. She crouched in pain and Jaune brought his shield down on hers. She was trapped. She used her semblance to throw him back and mid-flight he collided with Emerald knocking her out as he landed on her. Pyrrha stood again, her eyes still clouded. Making sure they were alone he did something she knew he'd never do.

He disarmed himself.

He threw the sword and shield down in front of her and even un-clipped his breast-plate and his pauldron and let them fall, clattering loudly against the marble floor. He took his time and really let it sink in where he was. He saw the great statues he'd dreamed of for months, and in the center of the room was the one thing he could never have. Pyrrha watched him with suspicion as he soon was just wearing his hoodie and jeans.

"I'm not going to hurt you Pyrrha," he told her. He just kept walking toward her, even when she put her sword to his throat.

"You do not belong here," she growled at him. But Jaune knew those weren't her words. Jaune continued even as the sword pressed into his throat. She growled again and slashed quickly, tearing the fabric of his hoodie and lightly scratching his skin underneath.

"Neither do you." Jaune kept walking toward her. She backed up and swung her shield, expecting him to dodge or redirect her. But he didn't. The shield collided with his head, and though he staggered he resumed his pace a moment later. Blood ran down his face drenching the bangs above his eye and running through it. "You belong at Beacon," he said softly.

"Leave!" she screamed. She reached out and stabbed his shoulder. Jaune took the wound but kept walking. "Fight back!" she ordered.

"No."

"Why not?!"

"I can't hurt you."

Pyrrha growled and slashed again, deeper into his chest this time. Jaune didn't even stagger he just kept walking, he even slipped forward a bit in his own blood but he still walked toward her. Pyrrha lowered her body and charged into Jaune, he flew back and stayed on the ground for a minute clutching at his ribs. He tried to get back up but Pyrrha stopped him by stomping on his ribs. She readied her spear above his head and the flame covered eyes bore down on him. Jaune's vision was going black as she panted in her rage.

" _Tora tha pethaneis_!" (Fight or die!) she shouted.

She switched to her native Mistralian just like she always did when she was angry or over emotional. Her nostrils flared because she kept her mouth tightly shut. And the tips of her ears burned brightly even amidst her fiery hair because she was frustrated.

All the little things.

" _Se agapo_ ," (I love you) he said quietly. " _Ego panta tha_." (I always have.)

XXX

Jaune blacked out after that, he felt every drop of blood leaving his body. But then again that was his plan. Though maybe Pyrrha actually did try to kill him, and his plan failed. He'd be disappointed but not surprised, after all his plans didn't have a history of ending well.

"Jaune Arc," a voice jolted his eyes open and he lurched up quickly. Much to his dismay, the blood was still fresh on his hoodie. "You have made it at last." The voice was attached to a very tall blonde man, his beard was neatly trimmed and his long hair in a neat ponytail. What shocked Jaune was he was holding his sword and shield.

"Uh, what?" he asked. "Who are you?"

"I am Militis Arc, my boy. You should know the name well."

"Wait, my dead great-grandfather? So that means I'm dead?"

"No quite the opposite boy. You've reached the day we all dream of, I'm sure your father has told you," he said. He helped Jaune up and led him toward the window. It was the same building, but cleaner and better kept.

"Told me what?"

"About who you really are." He walked right up to the pedestal and he saw his weapons, cleaner and better taken care of. "Amicus and Praesidium, the sword and shield of the Arc's."

"So they do have a name?"

"They do to those of us who have had their day," Militis told him.

"What day?"

"There are two days most important to a man, the day he is born-."

"And the day he finds out why, yeah dad says that like a thousand times a week, but what does it mean?" Jaune asked, Militis just smiled.

"Haven't you found it odd that you don't know your semblance yet?" he asked. "That among even your closest friends, you are the only one who hasn't mastered or even found it yet?"

"Well thanks for reminding me," Jaune muttered.

"There is a reason your father said that phrase, it's the key to unlocking your semblance."

"So what finding the reason I was born?"

"Yes, why do you think you're here?" he asked. Jaune looked around and saw all the statues holding the same sword and shield. The emblem etched into their tombs.

"So it's hereditary? For the Arcs?" Jaune asked.

"Not just for us, the Arc's haven't been a family for this long. It started with just one person, but that person married and had children, who carried on those gifts. The family name may change but the power stays the same."

"So what's our semblance?"

"It has gone by many names, but when I discovered what it was, it was simply known as the Ancestor semblance."

"That doesn't sound like a normal semblance," Jaune said.

"It's not, it is perhaps the most unusual semblance. This semblance activates only once, but believe me my boy it will be powerful."

"So what is it?"

"Look behind you," he told him. Jaune turned and saw hundreds of statues going down the great hall. "How many of your fore-fathers do you see?"

"A lot, I don't think I can count them all."

"They have each learned to use the weapons you now hold, and in their times they have learned techniques that are passed down. That is our semblance, we learn all the techniques and tricks of our fathers."

"That doesn't sound so impressive," Jaune muttered.

"All at once, and it's collective."

"Meaning?"

"It means the second you leave here, you'll know every single way to use your weapons that your fore-fathers knew, and the ability to use them. I'm sure you remember even today when your arms seemed to move without permission?"

"Yeah, that's the semblance?" he asked.

"In a way, there are other abilities as well but that depends more on you than it does your family name." Jaune's eyes widened. Having the skills of an army all at once? That could definitely be useful. "And you'll need to use it to save that young girl."

"Wait you mean Pyrrha?"

"Yes, that's the reason you're here, she is the reason you now wield those weapons. You found why you were born my boy!" Militis said with a great smile.

"Uh, you know Pyrrha right? She doesn't need help."

"She does, especially right now. Otherwise you wouldn't have risked your life to save her like you did."

"True, but what about after that? She's the best warrior I've ever met, she's smarter than me, she's better at pretty much everything than me what do I need to help her with?"

"My boy, sometimes you must realize that you can help someone simply by being next to them as they go on through life. And that young woman needs someone by her side. She needs you."

"So what do I do?" Jaune asked. Militis smirked walked with him towards the glass. Jaune could see the statues glowing behind him and the glow was getting closer.

"You wake up, pick up your weapons, and you fight with her. Not for her, not against her, but with her. The time will come when you need to protect her, as she will need to protect you. That is what it means to be together, and what it means to be a friend."

Jaune picked up the weapons and smiled. "I'm ready," he said.

"Good to hear." Militis smiled and clapped his hands on his shoulders. "Oh and Jaune? She likes you too." Militis winked and Jaune woke up.

XXX

Ruby dashed into the main room and she wasn't quite sure what she was seeing. Pyrrha knelt beside Jaune in tears and a lot of blood. "Jaune?!" she shouted. She ran over and nearly slipped in all the blood. She saw Pyrrha now free of the mind control but sobbing uncontrollably.

"What happened?" Ruby asked.

" _Den eicha skopo_!" (I didn't want to) she said through her sobs. She clutched tightly onto Jaune as she wept. " _Ela piso! Min me afineis!_ " (Don't leave me, come back!) she pleaded. Ren and Nora both joined her at Jaune's body. Nora who was already emotional and still close to tears anyway joined Pyrrha's sobs. And Ren could only gape at the scene in horror.

"Well this is unexpected," Cinder said. They all turned their heads at the same time and watched her descend the stairs. "Now how did the dogs get out of their leashes?" she asked.

"I'll kill you!" Pyrrha screamed, tears still falling.

"Yes, charge at me full of emotion, let those hate-fueled emotions throw your minds into greater disarray. That makes my job easier, and it will be better for you in the long run." Her voice adopted a growl as the flames moved from her hands. The four screamed out and clutched their heads again. The others tried to help but there was nothing they could do.

"Please don't!" Pyrrha begged. The others watched the fires crawl across their eyes again.

"Begging for mercy?" Cinder growled out, she strode over to Pyrrha and struck her. "How disgusting!"

Ruby started her assault but Emerald and Mercury held the hunteress' at bay. Pyrrha stood up first, still struggling with the flames. She wanted to strike but Cinder hit her first, knocking her back down.

"Leave us alone," Pyrrha said weakly. She tried again to stand but Cinder stopped her.

"No," she said simply. Cinder grabbed her face and pushed the flames into her eyes. Pyrrha bit her tongue trying not to scream.

Cinder wasn't expecting what happened next. The searing pain in her left arm, the spray of blood and the horrifying image of watching her left hand fall to the ground in a pool of blood. Jaune stood there with his sword and stared at her. She fought to control herself, her anger was rising. It was only made worse when Jaune just turned and left to gather the rest of his armor and weapons, completely ignoring her.

Jaune turned back around and stared at Cinder, his left eye still filling with blood from his head wound, and still bleeding badly from his other wounds. But Cinder was still in control, he was still fighting against three, he knew Mercury and Emerald would be fighting him soon. Cinder was still in control, she wouldn't let her anger overtake her. She was in-.

"Ruby, you guys take care of those four. I've got this," Jaune said calmly.

Cinder wasn't in control anymore.

Cinder said nothing but motioned for Mercury to attack. Mercury sent Ruby and Nora flying with a kick then dashed toward Jaune. Jaune sheathed his sword and shield and stood ready. Mercury sought to end this quickly and aimed the kick straight for his head. Jaune grabbed Mercury's ankle and spun putting his elbow in his ribs. Mercury staggered back before taking Jaune's shield to his forehead.

"Try again," Jaune told him as he put his shield back. Mercury sneered and started firing blasts from his greaves. Jaune simply moved left or right to dodge them until Mercury let out a charge blast. Jaune took his sword out and not only blocked the blast but spun his sword so that it fired back at Mercury, sending him flying back just to dodge it.

"Need a hand?" Emerald shouted as she opened fire at Jaune. Jaune dodged every bullet and even cut a few down as he went. She brought out the blades and started swinging. Jaune deflected each strike with his sword and kept her at range with his shield. Mercury took his chance and tried to hit Jaune in the back. But Jaune knew that was coming and slid his shield around his back deflecting Merc's strike and letting Jaune counter-attack.

"Am I still hallucinating or is Jaune kicking their ass?" Yang asked quietly.

"I would vote for hallucination but I'm seeing this too," Weiss said.

"Are these the tricks you showed him Pyrrha?" Ruby asked.

Pyrrha just shook her head, "I've never seen these techniques before. This isn't what I've been teaching him."

Mercury and Emerald both ran back and gave themselves space as they prepared a projectile onslaught. Jaune dashed in front of all the others and slammed his sword in the ground in front of them. Mercury and Emerald sent their barrages toward him but they all stopped about three feet short after hitting some sort of force field, harmlessly falling to the ground.

Cinder called in the remainder of the White Fang and had them attack. But Jaune was ready for them, seamlessly attacking them with both his sword and shield and the larger sword he'd just gotten. Jaune didn't even look like he was trying, the others joined in to fight but it was clear they weren't needed. Jaune was winning, quite handily. Fifty White Fang soldiers laid unconscious on the ground as Mercury and Emerald returned to their assaults but they too met the same fate.

"Where was this?!" Nora asked. "Jaune just ran through them like they were wet wrapping paper!"

"Jaune is awesome!" Ruby shouted back, rooting for Jaune and cleaning up any White Fang that attacked them.

"That sentence scares me," Weiss muttered.

Jaune turned and smiled toward his team and nodded to Pyrrha. " _To kanoume afto mazi_." (We do this together) Pyrrha's eyes widened, he was talking to her.

" _Den thelo na se pligoso_." (I do not want to hurt you)

" _Min anisycheis gia emena, to kanoume afto mazi._ " (Do not worry about me, we do this together)

Pyrrha nodded and grabbed her weaponry. Jaune and Pyrrha marched down to fight Cinder. Cinder's eyes flared and she began her attacks. Pyrrha was scared of hurting Jaune again but Jaune's attacks only seemed to compliment hers and soon they had Cinder on the defensive, somewhere she was clearly not used to being in. Cinder seemed more than capable of holding one of them off with ease, even with her missing hand, but with the combined assaults of both of the knights she was pushed farther and father back. Cinder's anger flared when Jaune and Pyrrha both slashed at her cheeks, letting more blood fly. She slammed the ground and let loose a flurry of chains that held Jaune tightly, Pyrrha used her semblance to escape them and worked on getting Jaune out. But Cinder had other ideas, she grabbed Pyrrha's throat and forced her down to her knees. In a swift motion she took the chains on the ground and changed them to a sharp point. Pyrrha closed her eyes in fear for only a moment, she was shocked to hear the chains shatter. Jaune broke free and had Cinder on her knees this time, pointing his sword at her throat. Jaune stayed still as Cinder laughed.

"Do you think you can kill me?" she asked through her laughs. Her eyes were wide with anger.

"My ability shouldn't be questioned, it should be my willingness you question."

"Then I know I'm safe, a Huntsmen of Grimm," she tried to stand but Jaune kept her down. "A good guy, even, far to many rules to stop you."

"Right on all accounts except one," Jaune moved closer toward her holding the sword even closer to her throat. "I'm no longer a huntsman." He pushed her down to her back.

Cinder's eyes widened and for the first time in a very long time she felt a tinge of ear. "W-what?"

"I was expelled from Beacon, forbade from ever becoming a Huntsman. And you just tried to kill my friends, so even me being a so-called good guy? That's just as questionable." Jaune kept walking toward her as she scurried back. "Those rules that I adhered to? The ones that kept me from killing people like you, I no longer follow." Jaune pushed the sword even harder against her throat. A small pin prick of blood meeting the tip. "So know that this next action, isn't coming from a huntsman, or a man burdened with morality. This is coming from _me_." Jaune swung his sword downward and buried it in the ground by Cinder's head. "Because I will never be like you." Jaune released his sword and backhanded her with his shield, letting her black out. The only sounds left in the room were the pants and gasps of the hunters.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"We might want to call an airship," Jaune said suddenly. "I've lost a _lot_ of blood," he said with a laugh.

"What?" the others asked.

Jaune's reply was to pass out.

" _This_ is the guy that saved us," Yang groaned. They stood silently as the airship came and started to clean up. Yang watched Mercury start to stir. "Hey Nora can I borrow your hammer?"

"Why?"

"I hafta do something," she turned to Pyrrha and Weiss knowingly.

"Yes let her," Weiss said. She turned and made a glyph that lifted Mercury up and propped him up against it. Yang grabbed Nora's hammer and moved toward him.

"Pyrrha?" she asked.

"Got it." Pyrrha moved Mercury's greaves apart with her semblance as Yang to a running golf-swing. Mercury's eyes widened and his face paled. Instinctively Ren shuddered and turned away. There were no sounds. Mercury doubled over quickly and tried to scream but there was no air in his lungs, and the others just looked in awe. Disgusted by the consequences but too in awe to look away.

"Does he even _have_ a pelvis anymore?" Blake asked, slightly horrified at the sight.

"If you _ever_ touch me again, I'll make that feel like a foot rub." They just left Mercury to his pain and walked into the airship.

XXX

Pyrrha and Jaune stood in Ozpin's office, the low grinding of the clock tower's gears echoing in the quiet room.

"So have you decided who's taking my place?" Jaune asked. He'd just come back from surgery to this meeting, he wanted to get this over with.

"I have not," Ozpin told him.

"Reason being?"

"You're still the leader," Ozpin said. Jaune's eyes widened a bit and Pyrrha sighed happily, relieved that he was staying. "I knew before you ever told me."

Pyrrha's eyes widened this time. He told him about his transcripts? Why?

"So I'm still a Huntsman?" Jaune asked.

"That you are, and after the events of these last few days, one of my most trusted." Ozpin confirmed. "We will be having some more meetings at a later date, however for today," he stood and shook Jaune's hand. "Just rest, you've earned it." Jaune and Pyrrha left after that but Pyrrha stepped in front of Jaune. They looked at each other for a few moments, and Jaune saw the familiar look of betrayal in her eyes.

"You told Professor Ozpin?! Why?!" she asked. Jaune didn't move, he didn't backpedal, he didn't try to cover it up, he didn't try to explain himself. He didn't even blink. " _Giati to ekanes afto gia mena_?!" (Why would you do that to me?!) she asked again.

"I didn't want you to hurt anymore," Jaune said. "I wanted you to be safe. And if it meant I had to do something drastic I would have done it."

" _Gia poio logo?_ " (For what reason?) she asked, hurriedly wiping away tears.

" _Se agapo_ ," Jaune said again. The betrayal was gone. "It was never Weiss, it may have started out that way but not for long."

" _Ti ennoies_?" (What do you mean?)

" _Isoun o monos pou pistepsan se mena,_ " (You were the only one who believed in me,) he told her. His trademark goofy grin was shining through again. " _Perimena tin katallili stigmi gia na sas po. Se agapo_." (I waited for the right moment to tell you.)

"Jaune," Pyrrha rushed to him and hugged him tightly. She clung to him as her body shook with her heavy sobs. Jaune held her just as tightly.

XXX

"If the answer to my next question is "Jaune", I'm going to scream," Weiss said as she massaged her aching temples.

"Please don't," Yang begged. They were in the last day of their detox and they were all feeling it.

"Screaming aside, Jaune is the reason you're all here right now," Blake told them. "He found out where you were, he figured out the mind-control and withdrawals and he figured out the overloading of emotions to free you."

"How?" Weiss asked. She suddenly envied Ren when she saw his contented face. Nora had come back with his tea and they sat together as they always had. It wasn't as if her teammates hadn't offered. But it was her own pride that stopped her from accepting the help, until she silently swallowed said pride. "Ruby? Can I have a cup of coffee please?" she asked meekly.

Ruby nodded vigorously and dashed off using her semblance.

"Don't even try asking me. Nora, Ruby, and I were just along for the ride after Jaune figured it out."

"Well how did he figure it out?" Ruby returned carefully and Weiss gratefully let the hot drink ease her pounding head.

"What part of don't ask me did you not get?" Blake asked with a smirk. "Once Jaune figured out he sped up to Ozpin's office and explained it all."

"Okay, now explain how Jaune Arc, a man who could barely survive before Pyrrha got to him by the way, did an impressive amount of ass-whooping?" Yang asked.

Blake just shook her head, so did the rest of them. "You saw what we saw, he was dead, he cut Cinder's hand off, then did _that_."

"But where is he? And Pyrrha?" Weiss asked as she sipped her coffee.

"Jaune said they had a meeting with Professor Ozpin," Ren informed them. Blake barely noticed the smirk on his face but left it alone.

"So they could either be down here in three minutes or three hours."

"Hard to say, but I'm sure neither of them are enjoying it too much."

XXX

Jaune and Pyrrha laid side by side in their darkened room. Bare chests heaving as they drew gasping breaths. Pyrrha's muscles fluttered and tensed rapidly as she finished the waves of her latest release. The room lay quiet for a few tense minutes.

"So that just happened," Pyrrha noted, trying to calm herself.

"Yeah, it did." Jaune felt his stitches strain but couldn't help enjoy himself.

"That was an interesting moment you had planned," Pyrrha moved herself so that she rested underneath Jaune's arm, resting her arm gingerly on his chest and shoulder.

"Well actually it was more like an hour, but oh well."

Pyrrha clutched him tightly and her expression turned from content to concerned.

"Jaune I have so many questions," she said quietly. He held her hand tightly.

"I'll answer all I can." He turned to face her and pulled her deeper into his arms. She was brought face to face with the long gash down his chest. She felt her stomach start doing flips and her eyes burned with tears. "That wasn't you, Pyrrha."

"It was my-."

"But it wasn't you," Jaune told her. It didn't relieve any of her worries. "Pyrrha, look at me."

She slowly lifted her eyes and saw the trademark goofy grin.

" _Se agapo_ ," she whispered slowly.

"I know," Jaune whispered back.

"When did you learn Mistralian, when we met you didn't know any?"

"A few months ago, those lecture tapes I was listening to where actually lessons. I had wanted to surprise you."

"You succeeded," she said with a light kiss. "What happened to you?"

"There are two days that are most important to a man: the day he is born, and the day he finds out why," Jaune said softly.

"Hmm?" Pyrrha asked.

"I found out why I was born."

"You found your semblance?"

"In a way," he admitted.

"I think the roles might need to be reversed, you were amazing, I think might need training."

"Then how about this?" he asked as he sat up. "I show you some tricks, you show me some back."

"I'd like that."

XXX

 _So yeah, that's it. Uh, some things about the story:_

 _I made a few video game references in the story, some obvious and some not so much, but if you got them, great job! If not, you'll get it next time._

 _Jaune's secondary sword is actually similar to Aragorn's sword from LOTR, a traditional hand-and-a-half sword can be used one handed or two handed. Other names are Bastard Sword or in some places plain Broadsword._

 _Nora and Ren's origin's haven't been revealed as I'm writing this but I like to think this is close to what it is._

 _Also the Mistralian is Greek, and it was all found on Google translate, so if it's wonky that's why. Apologies to anyone who actually speaks Greek for what I have just done to your beautiful language. So yeah, my bad._

 _Thanks again for reading and I'll see you next time._


	2. Update: Hiatus

So I know that people have been really requesting a sequel or a follow-up for this story, and while I am really and truly grateful for all the love and reviews it's gotten, I do have some bad news.

I had not really intended for the story to even really be successful, it just sort of happened. And when it was I was staggered, and had really wanted to deliver since so many people wanted me to continue the story.

Now comes the bad part: there won't be, at least for a while. I had a plan in motion for a while and tried to use it but the more I read of the story the more half-assed and fan service-y it sounded and while this may just be a fan-fiction I still don't want half-assed material on my profile.

Now with that said there will be an update coming soon in the form of an Arkos lemon, since people actually did seem to want it. That will come as soon as I can but with my schedule it may be a while. Now as for a continuation of the story I'll keep working on it and try to actually make a real plot and hopefully close the story within either this chapter or another. I don't want the story to drag on too long, but I also want to make it a complete story.

Thank you all so much for the support and love you gave this story. It was truly unexpected but not unappreciated. Thanks so much, and I'll see you next time.

P.S. The video game references were for Final Fantasy VII, Nora keeps thinking that Jaune reminds her of Cloud. And also during the fight against Emerald Jaune spins around with his sword out which was a reference to Legend of Zelda's Link, who has a move that is the same thing.


	3. Ancestral Memories

_So here it is folks, my contribution to the Arkos smut pile. BTW Fire those canon's bitches cause this ship has SAILED! Finally caught up on the episodes I hadn't seen yet and I was so freakin' happy. P.S. totally called the "You're the only one who believed in me" line._

 _So a bit of a warning, this is a heavy chapter, both in sexual content and potential dark themes. So viewer discretion is MOST CERTAINLY advised. But please enjoy, this doesn't have much plot (mine usually don't) but hey you came for the smut so I delivered. Here ya go._

 _Ancestral Memories_

Again.

It's happening again.

Make it stop.

Jaune tried to run but his legs couldn't move. This was another memory, he was a helpless spectator of this young woman's life. But this wasn't the memory you looked at fondly.

This was when she had her day, the day when she knew she was to become a huntress. But it was not a good day. He just watched Beowolves tear through her family, blood flew everywhere around him, and now they looked towards her. Jaune couldn't do anything, he couldn't even close his eyes. Even as he saw the snarling, bloody maws of the beasts turn toward him.

Again.

It's happening again.

Make it stop.

XXX

Pyrrha held Jaune tightly as he fought through yet another nightmare, she was near tears herself watching this. But she was also just as helpless. She held him as tight as she dare even when he woke up panting again.

" _Eimai edo_ ," (I'm here,) she whispered softly. Jaune turned and fell into her embrace.

" _Parakalo min anisycheite gia mena_ ," (Please do not worry about me,) Jaune pleaded.

" _Pos boro ochi_?" (How can I not?)

" _Einai apla oneria_." (It's just dreams.)

" _Xero kalytera_ ," (I know better,) she whispered harshly. " _Xypnima me fovo kathe vrady_!" (Waking in fear every night!) She buried her face in his chest as she clung to him. " _Pes mou oti eisai entaxei_." (Tell me that you're okay.)

Jaune smiled and held her tighter. " _Me esena sto plevro mou? Mono na parei tin kalyteri._ (With you by my side? Only getting better.)

" _Se agapo_."

"I know."

XXX

"You know if we can do anything," Blake said softly. Pyrrha could only nod. They all sat around the breakfast table in a heavy silence.

"If you need we can give you two some time alone," Ren offered.

"It would be nice but it wouldn't fix the problem." Pyrrha put down her bowl and shoved it away. She wasn't hungry.

"What _is_ the problem? These aren't just nightmares, we're delving dangerously close to PTSD territory. And I don't want to mess with that again," Yang said as she finished her coffee.

"It has something to do with what happened to Jaune when he fought Cinder. But he hasn't told any of us what happened yet. Just Ozpin and Goodwitch," Pyrrha said.

"Then we need to trust him that we'll know when we need to." Ren closed his book and started cleaning up.

"But it's infuriating! He wakes up at least three times a night, it's a wonder he hasn't torn his stitches open again!" Pyrrha put her head in her hands and sighed. "I came to love that goofy grin he wore, but I haven't seen it since he got back."

"We'll do what we can, but at the same time he needs to deal with it too," Weiss told her.

"I can't accept that!" Pyrrha argued.

"I know you can't Pyrrha, but you need to. The problem isn't from an outside source, this is his own internal demons and he needs to deal with it. The best we can do is to stand by his side and let him know he's not alone. Sad as it is, it's the best we can do."

The table sat in silence for a few more minutes. They each looked around at the bustling and smiling students blissfully unaware of what happened over the last few weeks.

"How are you guys feeling by the way?" Blake asked.

"Better, much better now," Pyrrha said.

"Yeah don't wake up a headache threatening to blow up my head," Yang said with a smile.

"What?!" Ruby asked with wide eyes.

"It's an exaggeration Rubes."

"Oh, okay," Ruby sighed and put her head down on the table. "This whole thing stinks."

"Can't really disagree with you there," Yang said. "Tell ya what, we'll clean up here so you guys can go check on Jaune." Yang gave a wink as JNPR left.

"And we'll get things rolling in class for you," Ren said with a nod.

"Thank you," Pyrrha said quietly.

Pyrrha left the others and started walking down the hallway, soon though her fears got the better of her and she ran toward him. She slammed the door open and all she wanted to see was him sleeping peacefully, she wanted to see him smiling that same goofy grin.

The room was in shambles and Jaune's chest was bleeding badly. He panted from fatigue and fear as Pyrrha ran to hold him. Jaune clutched at his sword and shield too tightly, the handles digging into his hands only brought more blood. Pyrrha held him in a vain attempt to calm him but it just seemed to make it worse.

In this moment it was hard to say who broke first.

XXX

"You should ask him first," Ozpin warned her. Pyrrha followed him frantically.

"He won't tell me, he won't tell any of us, and if this keeps getting worse than-." Pyrrha forcefully swallowed her tears as Ozpin turned around. "Tell me what happened to him."

Ozpin slowed his walk to a stop ending it with a solid hit from his cane.

"Tell me Pyrrha, have you ever heard the name Militis?"

"Militis the White Knight? How could I have not? He single-handily saved nearly all of Vale from the Dragons," Pyrrha remembered the stories told by her father and the pictures hanging near his statue. "He was a hero."

"Do you also know of Polemos the War-Monger? The Mistralian general who conquered and unified all of the kingdoms for a time in our darkest days?" he asked.

"Yes, I have," Pyrrha answered nervously.

"And of Wudao, a simple dancer turned hero when she lost her brother in a failed assassination plot to kill the kings top general?"

"And she led the armies into a counter-attack to seize the victory and avenge her brother, what does this have to do with Jaune?!" she asked angrily. Ozpin paused a moment and sipped his coffee.

"Did you know they are all in Jaune's bloodline? And that Militis was actually his Great-Grandfather?" Ozpin asked.

Pyrrha's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"Every one of those 'heroes' had a day in which they found out why they were born. And they used the power of their ancestors to achieve legendary feats."

"And that happened to Jaune?" she asked.

"Think of it, suddenly becoming stronger than an army of people, and using techniques and attacks that haven't been used for centuries? Jaune had his day."

"Well that's good right? That means he knows-?"

"But do you ever hear what happened to the heroes after their stories end?" Ozpin asked her interrupting her. Pyrrha shook her head slowly. "How some drift into a madness of painful memories and nightmares? When they use the power of their ancestors, the memories come to haunt them as well. What Jaune is going through isn't unique to him. Everyone in his family has gone through it, and it is Jaune who will have to overcome it."

"But that's not fair! He gave everything to save me, and you're telling me I can't do anything to help him?" Pyrrha slammed her fist into the nearby wall, warping the metal around it in a creaking groan that echoed in the empty halls. Soon though Pyrrha's quiet sobs were the only thing that made any noise.

"I didn't say that," Ozpin corrected. Pyrrha looked up slowly through her tears. "I said Jaune must overcome it, but for all those who overcome there must be those who give them reasons too. When Jaune had his day what happened to you? What changed from the moment he fell to the moment he rose again? Ask yourself that, and in that night you'll find your answer."

XXX

"Answer me, damn it!" Jaune screamed out. Militis just stood by the tomb looking at the great cat on the window. "How do I get them to go away?!"

"You can't, I'd hoped you'd given up by now, though," Militis said with a sigh.

"That's not good enough!" Jaune shouted. "You can see what this is doing to her! What was the point of having my day if she still gets hurt?!"

"I know, my boy."

"Don't call me that! Stop screwing around and tell me how to stop this!"

"What makes you think I know?!" Militis shouted back. "I dealt with them until the day I died, my wife stood by side as much as she could, even my son! But I still dealt with them, and now you must. It's not fair I know and believe me if there were a way I would tell you, I want you to be happy with Pyrrha. I want you to be happy in general, but this is something we all live with. Everyone of us who carries that sword and that shield must deal with the same thing, because the truth is that destiny isn't painless!"

"What does that mean?"

"Destiny shows you were you go, it doesn't show you the path, and it doesn't promise that you'll make it in one piece. All destiny really does is give you a general direction," Militis let the bitterness drip in his voice. "Jaune you were luckier than most of us."

"Oh really, I get to watch as the woman I love tears herself apart trying to help me through all this?!"

"But at least you know her! Most of these people never knew their loved ones, some died when they were old and withered but most died in their 20's! Jaune you've outlived most of your ancestors because you know her!"

"Knowing her isn't the problem! It's the fact that these damn memories are killing her faster than they're killing me!"

Militis grabbed Jaune by the neck of his hoodie and shook him. "Then tell her about them! Swallow your pride and do what I told you from the beginning! Fight with her!" Militis shouted. "She needs you just as much as you need her! If you fight with her then she'll fight with you!"

The argument bounced off the cold stones of the tomb and drifted down the hall to the ears of their ancestors. Jaune pushed himself away and looked at Militis. Jaune could truly see the aging on his face, how weathered he truly was.

"I refuse to believe that this curse is real," Jaune said finally. "I'm not like any other Arc, or even any other hero. I've proven that already, so believe me I'll find a way to end this."

"The funny thing is," Militis said with a smile. "I believe you." Militis started laughing now and it was louder than their argument. "My boy, this curse claimed the happiness of the other Arc's but I believe you can get past it."

"I will, I promise."

"Don't promise me, Jaune, promise her."

Jaune nodded and closed his eyes. He felt the world around him shift as he woke up, he bolted upright staring right into Pyrrha's brilliant green eyes.

XXX

" _Pes mou oti eisai entaxei_ ," (Please tell me you're okay,) Pyrrha said softly. Jaune tackled her to the bed and kissed her happily.

" _Pote kalytera_!" (Never better!) he whispered to her.

" _Ti synevi_?" (What happened?) she asked. Jaune was a bit to busy to answer her.

He quickly moved his lips lower toward her neck, a bit of a soft spot on her, and started kissing all along her neck. Pyrrha was still trying to show concern but the sensations took her focus away from her. Jaune kept up his kissing even as Pyrrha tried to lower him to his back. She finally pulled him away and looked him in the eyes again.

" _Ti synevi_?" (What happened?) she asked again. He tilted his head to the side and smiled, she recognized it.

For the first time in weeks, _Jaune_ was finally smiling at her, the Jaune she knew before.

Pyrrha didn't even wait for a response before she pulled him back into the kiss reaching around to the hem of his hoodie. Jaune pulled back as she ripped the hoodie off him, then tackled him back down in another kiss. Jaune pulled apart and flipped her over in a moment, gently holding her hand still as she tried to resist.

" _Gia proti fora echoume chrono._ " (For once we have time.) Jaune moved his hands down her shoulders and gently massaged them while sliding her armor off. " _As to apolafsete_." (Let's enjoy it.)

Their clothing was off even faster now and a simple flick of Pyrrha's wrist the door was locked so for the rest of the evening it was just them. And Pyrrha wouldn't have had it any other way.

Jaune quickly replaced his lips on Pyrrha's neck, earning the light moans from her. Jaune loved those sounds. Everyone else saw and knew Pyrrha Nikos, Champion of Mistral. But right now she was his lover, the thought always made Jaune happy. He kept lowering his lips until he reached her chest, placing the very tip of his tongue between her breasts and lowering it slowly, again Pyrrha made a chorus of appreciative moans. He moved his hands slowly down her legs as he did, massaging the tired muscles. Pyrrha wanted to reciprocate but she knew she wouldn't get a chance just yet, so she simply received what he gave her. Jaune quickly reached his prize and gave a long slow lick along the dripping slit.

Pyrrha's eyes rolled back into her head and her back arched violently but Jaune kept it up. He teased the sensitive flesh with the tip of his tongue, gently opening the folds. Pyrrha's hands instinctively grabbed his hair but he wasn't going anywhere. Not yet anyway. He kept teasing her until he could hear the crescendo in her moans, then at once he slipped his tongue into the ring of tightened muscle. Pyrrha's chest heaved upwards and she jerked her hips deeper onto Jaune's eager tongue. Jaune held onto her legs as he continued to lick and suck at her core. Pyrrha tensed her body in preparation, the building ball of pleasure inside of her was threatening to release, even as Jaune continued to pleasure her. Finally Jaune slid two fingers inside of her, crooking them to hit the spot he'd found earlier, and at the same time attaching his lips firmly to her clit. Pyrrha grabbed her pillow quickly as the screams of pleasure burst out. Her body convulsed rapidly as she bucked her hips, Jaune wasn't done yet though. He moved himself around and entered her, Pyrrha screamed into her pillow again as she did but Jaune moved it away. Her moans and cries echoed in the empty room and she gave no attempt to silence them. Jaune continued his pace and never let her pleasure dip down, he only increased. Pyrrha held him tightly, the friction of their skin sending electric sparks all over her body and adding to her pleasure.

Pyrrha ran her fingertips gently down Jaune's spine, if he could hit her weak spots then she'd do the same. She could feel his skin tighten and raise itself, and she felt him shiver against her. She copied her actions again and again even as Jaune kept thrusting. Soon Jaune's arms began to weaken and he lowered himself, Pyrrha took her chance and rolled him over, rearranging herself over him and resuming the pace. Jaune groaned as Pyrrha took him in, rolling her hips with every thrust. He moved his hands around her thighs like before, giving gentle force on the sore muscles. Pyrrha reciprocated by doing the same to his chest, both of them working to increase the others pleasure. Pyrrha cried out yet again in release and Jaune was nearing the same. He tried to warn Pyrrha but he couldn't form the words.

" _Eimai pou prostatevontai,_ " (I'm protected,) Pyrrha said through her gasps, giving Jaune a sly smile. " _Min anisychies_ ," (Don't worry,) she said.

Jaune smiled again and resumed his pace, building Pyrrha up again. Pyrrha lowered herself to kiss him as she felt it building up again. The friction against them returned as they writhed together, building each other up until Pyrrha launched herself upright as she came again. This one was the strongest: the small stars that lit up in her vision, the tingling in her entire body and the warmth of Jaune releasing inside of her overwhelmed her. She collapsed on top of him panting and convulsing from the sensations. Pyrrha finally moved to the side and rested in Jaune's embrace.

" _Se agapo_ ," Jaune said.

"I know."

XXX

The lunchroom table was quieter than it had been in the last few days. But for a different reason.

"You're sure?" Blake asked incredulously. She and Weiss shared a look of unbelieving disgust.

"It was hard to misidentify what they were doing," Ren said, still slightly flushed and unable to make eye contact with everyone. Nora was also uncharacteristically quiet but she had a grin that couldn't be called anything other than devilish. "And the sounds didn't help."

"Well good for them?" Ruby asked unsure.

"Yeah there's that," Yang said. She shared Nora's grin and her mind whirled with jokes and innuendos. "But we could also just invest in some industrial quality ear plugs, then everyone wins!" she said with a cackle.

"Can you be serious for a moment of your life?" Weiss asked harshly.

"No." Her smile grew bigger as Pyrrha and Jaune approached the table.

"Good morning!" Pyrrha said happily. The others smiled as she did, relieved that she was smiling again at all. Jaune was also smiling, potentially even bigger than he ever had before.

There was still one issue.

"I heard you two had some fun last night!" Yang said as she shoved her way past all the awkward stares. The others winced at the blonde's characteristic blunt delivery.

"Yes we did," Pyrrha said with a smile. The others eyes widened. "But don't worry, we'll make sure that we plan things better next time. I'm afraid last night was just too spur of the moment."

Silence.

"You're," Blake started. "Oddly upfront about all this."

"Why would we hide it?" Jaune asked.

"A number of reasons," Weiss said. "Least of which, any semblance of shame?"

"Well you guys are our friends, we don't want to keep anything from you, and this way it's easier to be together when we need to be," Jaune pointed out. The others nodded and they all sat enjoying their meals, smiling at the two love birds.

"Although, perhaps this weekend some of you might want to get some good ear plugs. Jaune's birthday is coming up."

Yang's howling laughter echoed throughout the cafeteria.

XXX

 _Thanks for reading, I actually have a plot to use for the next chapter and so it should be out. But be warned as of right now this next chapter will be the closing for the story._

 _Thanks again, and I'll see you next time._


	4. Ancestral Triumph

_This is it folks. The final chapter. And it's a doozy, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks so much for reading this and I hope you like it._

 _Ancestral Triumph_

"Okay I'll admit it," Weiss said. "That was actually enjoyable."

"So you'd watch another Spruce Willis movie?"

"I said I like this one, not all of them."

"Well either way we're all going to enjoy this next one!" Yang held up the DVD and made a evil grin with Nora. The girls took this day to catch up and relax with a metric ton of snack food and movies they hadn't seen yet. Ruby herself had eaten her weight in cookies before Weiss took them away and they had finished six movies since the start in the wee hours of the morning.

"Yeah we will, I'm going to go check on Jaune then I'll be back for the next movie."

"Hurry back!" Ruby said. Pyrrha walked down the hall humming happily. Pyrrha knocked on the door a few times waiting for a response.

"Jaune?" she asked. Pyrrha used her key and walked in but she wasn't sure what she saw. Jaune was staring angrily at a man standing across the room from him. The man was taller than Jaune but looked strikingly like him. He had blonde hair like Jaune but his was tied up in a tight ponytail, he had Jaune's blue eyes but they were more aged. "Jaune?" she asked.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, Jaune?" the man asked.

Jaune didn't say anything, Pyrrha could see he was seething.

"Jaune what's going on?"

"Nothing, he was just leaving," Jaune said.

"We still have much to discuss."

"No we don't, I already told you I'm not playing this game."

"Jaune this is far from a game."

"Jaune who is this?"

"He was just leaving," Jaune repeated.

"Damn it Jaune, please listen to me!" he shouted.

"No! What are you doing here?" Jaune asked. "Where was this when I was dying?! Or going through hell with the damn memories?! What could be worse than any of that?!"

"Jaune there is a war coming to Beacon, you're all in danger!" the man said.

Pyrrha threw the two apart and held them away with her semblance.

"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on here? Jaune who is this?!" she asked angrily. Jaune picked himself up and sighed, staring back at the man across from him.

"That is my great-grandfather, Militis Arc."

XXX

Jaune snapped his eyes open and gasped. Ren looked over quickly out of concern but Jaune just shot up and grabbed his notepad.

"Another idea?" he asked.

"Heishi, this may make fighting Beowolves a little easier if it works."

"These memories don't scare you anymore?"

"A little but after a while I've started to see what they are, they're just memories."

"Well that's good," Ren pulled out his scroll and sighed. "I'll have to leave for a while, I need to get some shopping done while Nora isn't here."

"Special gifts?" Jaune asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Pancake mix, I'm lucky if I only need to by three boxes."

"Well best of luck, the girls are still having their night in."

"Hence my timing, try to rest," Ren said as he left. Jaune put his notepad away and laid back down for a moment. He was enjoying the quiet room for a few moments before something got his attention. A faint rustling in the corner that grew louder with each second. Jaune grabbed his sword and stood up quickly just to stare into his own eyes. Jaune moved to swing but the sword moved straight through the target and embedded itself in the bed post.

"It was a good strike to be sure," the man said. Jaune quickly turned on his lamp and saw who he was talking to.

"Am I dreaming again?"

"No, Jaune, this is my final ability as your ancestor," Militis said as he moved toward the sword in the bedpost and tried to run his fingers along it. "How bittersweet to see it again."

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Something is coming Jaune," he said in a whisper. He turned toward Jaune and walked toward him slowly. "It's something bigger than you've ever faced, and I came to warn you so that you could warn-."

Jaune dove to tackle Militis but simply passed through him, leaving a shocked and slightly confused Militis to watch.

"That wasn't the reaction I was expecting," he admitted. Jaune growled as he got up and tried to punch Militis but again only passed through him. "What are you doing?!" Militis asked.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Jaune shouted. "What is with you?!"

"What are you talking about?" Militis asked, still confused. "I've only just gotten here!"

"And already I want you to leave!"

"Is that a reference or something?" Militis asked.

"You haven't talked to me in six months, the school year's almost over, I had just gotten used to all of this again. I was starting to accept it and now you want to tell me there's more?! What next will I start having flashbacks too?!"

"My boy this isn't about your semblance, this isn't just about you!"

About that time there was a knock on the door and Jaune could hear Pyrrha's voice.

"Go away," he ordered.

"If you don't listen to me, she's in danger too!"

"Don't you dare bring her into this!" Jaune whispered harshly.

"I'm not, what's coming is not of my doing!"

Pyrrha opened the door just then and went wide-eyed at the scene before her, unsure of what to do.

XXX

"What are you talking about?" Pyrrha asked breathlessly, she'd started to move back toward Jaune before he moved in front of her.

"I came to warn Jaune about what's coming, but we got into another argument."

Jaune didn't say anything, but stood in front of Pyrrha staring at Militis.

"Jaune, war is coming to Beacon. It's upon you."

"Why do I have a hard time believing you?"

"The woman you defeated six months ago, Cinder Fall? She has allies that are still active, they are planning to march on Beacon."

"You mean Torchwick?" Pyrrha asked.

"Who?" Militis asked.

"Probably not then, but then who? We knew that Torchwick was working with Cinder, but who else?" Jaune asked.

The door slammed open jarring all three in the room.

"Pyrrha what's taking so long?" Yang asked with Ruby and the others in tow. Militis sighed as they were once again interrupted. "Pyrrha why are there two Jaune's?" Yang asked.

As if she read his mind, Pyrrha took the girls out of the room and stood outside the room. The two argued in the room behind them.

"Can I repeat my question?" Yang asked with wide eyes.

"Was that who I think it was?!" Weiss asked suddenly.

Pyrrha could only nod, still lacking the energy to speak.

"Who was that?" Ruby asked.

"Militis the White Knight," Weiss said.

"Wait that guy that slayed all those dragons?" Yang asked.

"Yes but now the bigger question is why was he in the room with Jaune of all people?!"

"His r-real name was Militis Arc," Pyrrha managed to say. "H-he's Jaune's great-grandfather."

The girls were silent as Pyrrha kept trying to calm herself down.

XXX

"You call them the White Fang, those misguided souls," Militis lamented.

"Why would they attack Beacon?" Jaune asked.

"Their leader, a man called Adam Taurus, would call it a strike on the decadence of mankind. Saying it would cripple them and administer justice to all of the Faunus' enemies."

"But what's the truth?"

"Cinder has had him under her thumb for a while, she'll most likely wish to eliminate her main enemies and give her a chance to escape all in one. They have Grimm on leash to bolster their ranks, and most likely can corral more of them to aid them."

"How do you know of them?"

"I was able to talk with one of our ancestors, Tempus, she was gifted with a foresight semblance. It was how she was able to understand our semblance and our destinies. She was the one who named it the Ancestor Semblance, she saw the visions of war. Beacon on fire and crashed down from the sky, these young ones dead and burning."

"I get it! How do we stop them then?"

"I was able to use my final gift as your ancestor to warn you, now you must warn your teachers."

"How will they believe me? To them I'm just one of those young ones, only Ozpin would even slightly believe me."

"Then go to him, talk to him, this is up to you now. You have the ability to act now and end this war before it starts!"

"They won't end it, they'll just bolster and prepare for it," Jaune said.

"They can't do that! If this war hits Beacon, millions will die! Cinder will escape and the kingdoms will fall! Jaune this all falls on you now!"

"Oh what a shock!" Jaune shouted. "It's all on me, let me guess this is my destiny?!" Jaune asked angrily, grabbing his sword again.

"Jaune if this was your destiny I wouldn't be allowed to interfere," Militis said. "But-."

"But you have no problem using me!"

"Jaune, what are you saying?"

"I'm sick of this! Ever since you showed up all that you've done is tell me that I need to step up and do this, do that, save the world again and again! I'm sick of it! I'm just a kid! I'm still in school!"

"Jaune this is what it means to be an Arc, Amicus and Praesidium need people who are willing to protect and willing to fight!"

"You still don't get it do you?! I'm not an Arc! Dad saw that and that's why I stole the sword and shield! I faked transcripts to get here and I ran away!" Jaune threw the weapons across the room and watched them land in a pile. "Don't throw that name around me like it's supposed to mean something to me."

Militis sighed and moved back towards the weapons and took hold of them to Jaune's surprise.

"Jaune I don't care who you are now, and I don't care who you've been. What I care about is seeing you live your life, you said yourself you'd figure a way out of this curse. I care about who you're going to be."

"I don't believe you."

"Jaune if this war comes to Beacon, you will die. This will claim your life and the lives of your friends. I told you this so you could avoid this!"

"So you're telling me that I die like you did? I die in war? That's my destiny?" Jaune asked bitterly. Militis didn't say anything, he just lowered his hands. "I don't want it, take it back."

"Take what back?"

"The semblance! You said that Amicus and Praesidium needed people who were willing right? Well I'm not playing your games anymore, so take it back."

His eyes were the same as hers. That look of betrayal and shock that bled through his tears. Militis dropped the sword and shield, staring back at Jaune.

"Jaune?" he asked.

"TAKE IT BACK!" Jaune shouted as he fell to his knees. By the time he looked back up Militis was gone and Pyrrha was knelt beside him. He felt it as he took deeper and deeper breaths.

They were gone.

"What did I miss?" Ren asked suddenly, holding the bags of groceries.

XXX

"They're gone sir," the Lieutenant said.

"Good, find her and bring her here," Adam ordered.

"How many of us should go sir?"

"As many of you that are needed to bring her here, but she needs to be alive. She will watch."

"With due respect sir, Miss Fall's orders-."

Adam drew his blade and rest it square on the lieutenant's throat.

"Miss Fall can argue with me when she's out of prison. Find Belladonna and bring her here."

"On your orders," the Lieutenant said with a salute.

XXX

"Man we just can't catch a break can we?" Ruby asked. Jaune chuckled a bit.

"Seems we can't," Jaune said.

"But with what Militis said, shouldn't we warn somebody?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't know about it, Militis said one of our ancestors Tempus could see the future. But I don't know, future viewing never really works out."

"I still think we should at least tell Ozpin, he knew about all this before hand. He might believe us."

"But what would he do?" Jaune asked. "Militis was sure that he'd just use a miracle and stop it but what would he do really? He bolster down and defend, and according to Militis, we do that we die."

"Then what do we do?" Yang asked.

"I don't know," Jaune said.

"Well does Militis have any ideas?" Pyrrha asked.

"If he does he can't tell me."

"Why not?"

"He's gone, they're all gone. My semblance is gone."

The others went wide eyed and the table quieted.

"I got into an argument with Militis and I haven't heard from them since."

"So all that wicked sword and shield stuff is gone?" Yang asked.

"I still know some of it, but I can't call on them anymore. Silver lining is that the memories are gone, I got a full night of sleep last night," Jaune rubbed his eyes and leaned back just as Weiss came to the table with annoyed face.

"Where is Blake?" she asked.

"Why?" Yang asked.

"She left the room a wreck and even left her book out! She's usually so good about this," she ranted, swinging the book around her as she spoke.

"Wait that's one of her romance books, she never leaves those out!" Ruby said.

"Well where is she?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know I haven't seen her," Yang said.

"Well I'll just call her scroll then," Weiss dialed, still angry about the room. She held the phone to her ear and heard the ringing echo from the hallway behind them. They ran to find her scroll sitting in an empty hallway.

"Man we just can't catch a break can we?" Ruby asked.

XXX

"Hey lookee what we caught," one of the grunts said. They led Blake blindfolded and bound through the camp to the cheers of the other White Fang, they'd already torn out her bow and most of her clothing in the scuffle so there was nothing to hide her shame other than the blindfold. The grunt picked her up and shoved her into the waiting hands of another soldier who shoved her back. They continued the game for a few more minutes, jeering at her and calling her names as they did.

"Enough!"

The entire camp went still and Blake's blood froze, the voice echoed and brought back legions of memories. She felt a cloth cover her body and the blindfold get thrown away at the same time, but she dare not open her eyes. She looked down to the ground as the voice moved closer.

"Such a warm reunion isn't it?" he asked.

Blake couldn't move even though everything in her body wanted her to. She wanted to run, she wanted to scream, she wanted to cry.

But she couldn't. She couldn't even breathe.

"Do we have her seat prepared?" Adam asked.

"Yes sir," the grunt said.

"This is how we'll repay your betrayal Blake," Adam whispered in a growl. They threw Blake into the chair and cuffed her hands and feet, Adam forced her eyes open and she saw Beacon, shining in the sky. Below she saw what awaited. Thousands, tens of thousands gathering at the base. Grimm in cages and airships ready to be unleashed upon the school and her friends.

War was coming to Beacon.

"No, please," Blake pleaded.

"This could have been our day! Our glory! Our revolution!" Adam finished the sentence with a strike to her face. "But you were a coward and you ran, like you always did. You can't run this time Blake, you just get to watch."

"Adam, stop!"

Adam tossed the knife to one of his grunts. "Silence her."

Blake's eyes went wide and she struggled to free herself as the man drew closer. She turned her head away but another soldier grabbed her head and forced her mouth open. Blake waited patiently as Adam turned his back. The second the knife touched her tongue the clone melted and she ran.

"Get her!" the grunt yelled. But Blake just left a trail of clones as she ran, they couldn't catch her. She had to warn them.

She had to warn them.

XXX

"Warn me of what?" Ozpin asked as he sat down.

"Militis was in my room the other night," Jaune started. "He told me war was coming to Beacon."

"War?" Goodwitch asked. "That's a bit extreme isn't it?"

"Those were his words, Tempus told him that the White Fang were coming to march. It's a distraction ploy to let Cinder escape in the chaos, but Militis was adamant that we'd all die if we tried to survive this. That we needed to avoid this, not fight it."

"And he specifically said the White Fang we're responsible?"

"He called out Adam Taurus by name, that's not a name he would know otherwise."

"I see." Ozpin stayed silent for a few more moments. "I have a meeting with General Ironwood from Atlas later today, if you'd like you could come with and explain to him."

"Yes sir," Jaune nodded and made his way toward the elevator.

"Jaune, if Militis is correct about this, you may be in danger."

"What else is new?" Jaune asked.

XXX

"That's new," Yang said as she looked out the window. The ships flying by had circled already, she recognized the numbers.

"Yang, come on we have to find her!" Ruby shouted. She'd been worried sick for all her friends for months, it felt like she was never going to be happy again with all this chaos.

"We will Rubes, I'm sure she's fine, Blake's a big girl," Yang assured. Ruby gave a half-hearted smile and kept walking. In truth Yang was worried sick, but she knew that expressing it would only make it worse. So she kept her smile and kept her head up.

They walked out into the courtyard just as the sun started to sink below the horizon and the shattered moon began shining.

"BLAKE!" Ruby called out into the empty courtyard yet again, in vain hope of a response.

"RUBY!" Blake shouted back. Ruby and the others went wide eyed with smiles until they saw Blake turn the corner, in tattered clothes and bloody fingers.

"Blake?!" Weiss asked. "What happened to you?"

"Wh-." Blake clutched her arms around her tightly, sending blood cascading down her arms and to the ground. "White Fang!" she shouted. JNPR had just joined them as she struggled to speak. "They're here! Th-they want t-to," she broke down and fell to her knees unable to speak. Jaune ran out to the edge of Beacon and looked out upon the hills below. The thundering march echoed up to Beacon and Jaune couldn't count the number of airships flying their way. The students gathered behind him in shock and awe as they watched.

Militis was right. And Jaune couldn't do anything about it.

"Jaune, what do we do?" Pyrrha asked.

No. Jaune had already played the damsel in distress once, he'd put all his friends in too much danger before. He would not do it again. Destiny be damned, he would do this.

Jaune unsheathed his sword and readied his shield and turned back towards the students amassing with them.

"Our job."

XXX

"Do your job! You see this yourself Ozpin!" Ironwood said as he paced around. Ozpin had simply stared out of the window as he watched the students gather in the front of the school. "Call for help!"

"Our communication lines were cut hours ago, shortly before you arrived. If you want to flex your army's muscles then you must make the call. Right now all we can do is give our students the support they need," he said. Professor Oobleck and Port were staring out as well as Glynda, staring at the growing army.

"What can they do?" Ironwood asked, pulling out his scroll.

"They can protect, they can defend, and they can win."

XXX

"LISTEN!" Jaune shouted. Some students gathered around them as the ships neared, others too lost in their fear. "I know you're scared! Believe me I get it!"

The students looked around at the army bearing down on them in obvious fear. Some had already fled towards the school.

"But before you give in to this fear, ask yourself who you are! Who are you?!" he asked.

The school muttered among themselves in response.

"I've spent enough time with some of you to know that you're waiting! You're waiting for the day when you'll make your impact, or waiting for the day you find out what you're meant to do! Today is that day! We all have people that we want to protect! Some of them are here in this school, some of them are back where you live! And right now those people need you!"

More and more students lined up before him as he marched in front of them, drawing their weapons and pumping themselves up.

"This is the day we prove who we are to the Grimm and to the White Fang! This is how you'll make your impact, how you'll have your Day! When you lay down everything you've got to protect what you love! That's how you achieve destiny! So if you're looking for the day that you change history, congratulations." Jaune looked down at the army and back to the ships drawing ever nearer. "You just found that day!"

The students gave a cheer as they armed themselves. Every student stood before them not as soldiers, but as but as friends and protectors.

"Pyrrha, gather every swordsmen, soldier, martial artist and make ranks to defend!"

"Got it!"

"Ruby, you take everyone with a long range firearm up to the top of Beacon, I want you to call out what you see and take down Grimm. If it flies, it dies."

"Aye-Aye sir!" Ruby dashed off with a few more students.

"Weiss gather everyone who can help you make defenses, make as many walls as you can and prepare to hold them."

"Yes sir!"

"Blake?" Jaune looked over at her as she composed herself. "I need your intel, right now you know the most about them."

Blake shook her head. "I c-can't!" she said softly.

"Blake I don't care who you were, I don't care you are now, right now all I care about is what you are going to be. And that starts now, you have a clean slate. Make the best of it."

Blake just nodded.

"So what are we fighting?"

"The majority of the White Fang isn't an army, it's more like a militia. These guys don't fight unless it's absolutely unavoidable. That's why they'll be using the Grimm for most of it."

"What kind of Grimm do they have?"

"The better questions is what don't they have, if it exists they can use it."

"What kind of soldiers are we expecting?"

"The real fighting soldiers are mostly big guys with big guns, so they should be easy to isolate."

"Thanks Blake, now you take any rouges and get information scout ahead and take out the forerunners if you can but don't take too many risks!" he told her. Blake nodded and moved to her post. "Ruby what's it look like up there?" Jaune asked through his earpiece.

" _Fifty Nevermores, at least thirty Griffons and dozens of airships within range, lots more out of range_."

"How many can you guys take out?"

" _All of them_ ," she answered with a nasty giggle.

"Prove it."

" _With gusto_!"

"Weiss, how are we looking?" he asked as she jogged back to him.

"These glyphs can last for 12 hours under normal soldier fire, which these guys are not. But Velvet has been bolstering them with her own copies. We could last for at least a full day."

"Good don't take risks, keep them strong!"

"Yes sir!" She ran back as Jaune walked to the front of the ranks.

"Pyrrha how are we looking?"

"We have twelve full legions, and enough shields to make a full phalanx, we can hold. And with the soldiers fire, we can take them out before they ever get there."

"Good."

" _Mr. Arc_?"

"Director Ozpin?" he asked through his earpiece.

" _Yes, I've just been informed that the first line of Atlas re-enforcement will land here at dawn. Can you survive until then_?"

"Yes we can."

" _Then do it, I believe in you boy. I don't need to tell you you're outnumbered_."

"What else is new?" Jaune looked out as the first airships started to land. "Get ready," he shouted. "DRIVE THEM BACK!"

XXX

Adam looked out from his airship at the defenses they'd mounted. How they gathered their what meager strength they had in front of the school.

"Pitiful," he muttered.

The airships opened and Grimm launched from the holds barreling down toward the school.

"Orders sir?" the sergeant asked, cracking her knuckles.

"Bring them to their knees!"

XXX

"Now is when it begins," Ozpin whispered.

"That young man with the sword and shield is quite adamant about this, can he do it?" Ironwood asked.

"I wouldn't trust anyone else with this task."

XXX

Jaune ducked right as an Ursa swung it's claws at him and cut it's leg off entirely before decapitating it. He looked over as the ranks reformed and pushed the Beowolf pack away and off the cliff. The defenses were impenetrable, even the stray Ursa that got through couldn't break through the barriers. All the threats were taken care of. Jaune could watch the Grimm fall from the sky with rapid succession. They had turned the courtyard and the school into a choke point.

"Ruby how are we doing?"

" _Thirty-five! Thirty-six! Thirty-seven!_ "

" _This such crap she's winning!_ " he heard another kid shout.

"Good keep it up!" he looked over at Pyrrha giving her commands and watching the form and ranks isolating individual Ursas to deal with them. The rouges and speedsters took care of any strays or White Fang runners.

"Weiss how are you guys holding up?"

"The defenses are holding well, we've opened up small doors to let people through. We still have plenty of energy to keep this up. Sky Lark is also helping, turns out he can make force fields too."

"Good those defenses are our number one priority, if we need to retreat we need to survive anything."

"Yes sir."

" _Jaune we've got a problem_!" Ruby called out.

"What kind?"

" _Huge airships! They're bigger than the others, they're carrying Goliaths_!" Jaune ran over and saw the Goliaths flailing in the ships hold.

"How many?"

" _Four airships, twelve Goliaths_!"

"Can you take them out?"

" _I've got ten bullets, so I can take out eleven Goliaths, but I cant dent those airships until I make an ammo run._ "

"Thanks, do what you can, we'll plan down here. Pyrrha! Ren! Weiss!" Jaune called.

"Do we have a problem?" Pyrrha asked.

"What else is new? We're going to have a Goliath land here soon."

"I don't know the glyphs can survive that," Weiss admitted.

"Well how can we stop it?" Ren asked. Jaune pulled out his notepad and skimmed through quickly.

"Heishi used their own momentum against them to defeat them. If we can match it's power while charging we could stop them, but what can we use?" Jaune shook his head and looked around until he saw the generator that helped power the school. Ren followed Jaune's line of vision as it traced to Nora who was in the midst of killing another Deathstalker.

"We will die," Ren warned.

"I'd rather die to Nora than die to them! Hey Nora, wanna do something fun?"

XXX

"Are they attaching Ms. Valkyrie to the generator?" Professor Port asked.

"It seems they are," Oobleck agreed. The silence built up as they watched.

"This could be interesting."

"Most certainly."

"Ten lien says she crushes it's head," Port wagered.

"I'd say she takes it's legs out."

"You're on, Doctor!"

"I think she does something stranger," Ozpin wagered with a smirk.

"Are you sure she can do this?" Ironwood asked, unsure of the plan.

"I'm not sure about anything anymore," Ozpin replied.

XXX

"Are we sure about this?!" Ren asked as he hesitantly neared Nora with the last clamp.

"No, but what else is new? Are you ready Nora?"

"I WAS BORN READY!" she shouted.

"That scares me," Jaune muttered. "Give it to her!"

Ren threw the black clamp into her hands where the red clamp was waiting and they watched the electricity crackle along her skin as her resounding laughter pealed through the night sky. The Goliath was dropped and it charged straight for Nora down the funnel of barriers Weiss and Sky had made. Nora dropped the cord just as the Goliath's tusks reached her and she snapped them off with ease turning to slam the tusks into it's head. The tusks pierced through the soft part of it's skull and it lunged backwards in pain. The Goliath whimpered and fell with a tremendous crash as Nora's howling laughter echoed.

"That will haunt my nightmares," Jaune admitted. The silence fell on the battlefield for a few more moments.

" _Mr. Arc, we have another problem_!" Ozpin said.

"What now?" Jaune asked just as two huge airships roared into view.

" _Those are Titan-class Airships, they have automatic countermeasures for any kind of missile or rocket strike. By the time you wore through it's countermeasures it will be at the school!_ " Ironwood shouted over the earpiece.

"Then how do we stop them?!" Jaune asked.

" _I was hoping you knew!_ " Ironwood said.

Jaune shook his head in frustration until he saw Nora moving in the corner of his eye. He turned just to see something fly up in the sky.

"Was that the-?"

XXX

"Those airships will destroy us!" Ironwood said.

"Mr. Arc will figure something out."

"But they don't have enough-."

Both Ironwood and Ozpin tracked the flying object with great interest.

"Did she just throw the-?"

XXX

"You heard our leader!" the captain of the ship shouted with laughter. "Bring them to their knees!" The others cheered until the klaxon started blaring.

"Sir, we have an incoming projectile!" the sonar-man warned.

"Who cares, we have the countermeasures! Let them try!"

"Sir, the countermeasures aren't working!" he said worried.

"Why not?!" the captain asked. He ran over to the window just as it came into view. "Is that a Goliath?"

XXX

Jaune and the entire school watched as the Goliath that Nora threw crashed into the airship, taking out it's left engine and sending it spiraling into the other airship. Both of them crashed in the distance with a long series of huge explosions. Jaune just blinked in speechless awe.

" _THAT WAS AWESOME!_ " Ruby shouted through the earpiece.

XXX

"That was definitely stranger," Port admitted as he handed the lien over to his boss.

"And efficient." Oobleck also handed his over.

"That young woman just took down two Titan-Class airships by throwing a Goliath," Ironwood said with amazement.

"I'd say the students are quickly coming into their own at this point."

"Something is coming!" a voice shouted from behind them. Ozpin turned just as Militis took a physical form. "There's something worse coming! But I can't get down to warn him about it!"

"Militis the White Knight?" Ironwood asked. "What is he doing here?"

"You have to warn Jaune, it's coming!"

"What is coming?" Ozpin asked.

Just then the ground shook with tremendous fury and the whole room went silent.

"I failed."

XXX

The students were still cheering as the airships pulled away, Jaune gave a smile and a shout as well until he felt it. The shaking.

" _Jaune_!" he heard Militis scream over the earpiece.

"Militis? Get down here and talk to me," Jaune ordered.

" _I can't! I failed!_ "

"Why not?"

The ground continued to shake and the students looked around in panic. Even the Grimm looked around in worry.

"What did you fail?" Jaune asked.

" _My destiny_."

"Destiny be damned, what is going on?!"

" _Jaune what was the one thing I had fame for? The one reason people even know my name?_ "

The ground stopped shaking, and the mountains crumbled, the sky grew dark as the beast emerged from the mountains and unfurled it's wings.

" _I failed my boy,_ " Militis lamented.

XXX

Militis stood beside Ozpin and lamented as the dragon flew toward the school. The faculty stood in horror as they armed themselves to try and help the students but Militis just wept.

"I'm sorry, Jaune."

XXX

"Pyrrha! Get everyone inside the school now!" Jaune called out. Pyrrha signaled the retreat and watched the students scramble back. "Ruby what is that?!"

" _Um, a dragon!_ " she shouted back.

"Fair enough," he muttered. "Get everyone out of it's line of fire if you can!"

" _Got it!_ "

"Weiss! Can this thing get through?!"

"At this point it could, but," she hesitated.

"But what?"

"But if I sealed everything off and upped the power it could last. But if we do that then we can't go back out. We're trapped in there."

"Ozpin! Is there a place the students can hide?!"

" _Yes I'll have the faculty start leading people in._ "

"Good, Weiss go meet Pyrrha in the school and make sure she got everyone in, when you see her seal off everything. I'll be right behind you."

"Yes sir!" Weiss jogged off, leaving Jaune in the courtyard.

"Militis?" he asked. "Are you still there?"

" _Yes, my boy,_ " he said.

"If you see Pyrrha tell her I'm sorry."

XXX

"PYRRHA!" Weiss shouted. "Is everyone in?"

"Yes they are why?" Pyrrha asked.

"I'm sealing us off!"

"Do it!" Pyrrha said with a smile. A few more moments of concentration and all of Weiss' glyphs shone brighter and spun faster. The students cheered and sighed in relief.

"There, nothing's getting through there now!"

"Jaune will be happy, where is he?"

"He was right behind me," Weiss said. The two looked around until Pyrrha looked out of the windows. Her face went pale and she fell to her knees pleading that what she saw wasn't real.

XXX

" _Jaune if you do this you will die!_ " Militis said.

"Says who?" he asked as he ran towards the edge of the courtyard.

" _What could you possibly have planned?_ "

"Trust me I have a plan."

" _But what could you hope to do to it_?"

"We're knights aren't we?"

" _Yes,_ " he said hesitantly.

"Then it's our job to slay dragons!" Jaune held up his shield as high as he could, garnering the dragon's attention. "Besides if what you say is true, then that dragon should recognize this symbol!" The dragon flew past him in a great roar and floated above him letting drop small blobs of shadow that held more Grimm. Jaune dispatched them with ease, which only made the dragon angrier. With every roar it made more Grimm were attracted and charged at Jaune. But Jaune held his ground, finally the dragon landed in front of Jaune staring at his shield and sword.

" _Jaune don't die for my failures!_ " Militis pleaded.

"Who said I was going to die?" Jaune asked.

XXX

Pyrrha beat against the glass trying desperately to escape.

" _Sas parakalo, min to kanete afto gia mena_!" (Please do not do this to me!) she shouted.

"Pyrrha we need to trust him!" Weiss tried to pull her back, but she herself was torn

" _Se parakalo mi me afinies_!" (Please do not leave me!) she screamed. Weiss and Blake finally peeled her away as she fell to her knees sobbing. " _Se agapo_."

"What's going on?" Ruby asked as she dashed in. Weiss just pointed out the window as Pyrrha wept. Ruby looked out and cheered.

"He cut off it's wings?!" she shouted. "That is awesome!"

XXX

Jaune landed with a roll as the dragon roared in pain.

"Gonna be honest, can't really believe that worked," he muttered. Jaune skated around the dragon keeping ahead enough to avoid all the attacks it made.

" _Jaune what are you planning?!_ " Militis asked.

"This is my destiny, and if you want to help me, feel free."

" _What is Jaune?_ "

"Like what I said in my speech, my destiny is to protect what I love. And everything I love is behind me. So I'm taking this thing down."

" _Why?_ "

"If that thing is left alive then they'll never survive, the White Fang will come up behind it and storm. If they have any hope of living through this then this thing must die."

" _How do you plan to do that?_ "

"By cutting it's head off," Jaune said simply.

" _That's ludicrous_!"

"Yeah but so are most of my plans, it's a running theme with me. It can't fly away now, so it's stationary for the most part. Now I just need to position myself so-."

Jaune moved to the right just as the Dragon unleashed a blast of fire.

"Wait, it actually breathes fire?!" he asked.

" _It is a dragon, what did you expect?_ "

"Fair point."

Jaune rolled beneath another fireball and grabbed it's snout tightly. The dragon narrowed it's eyes and reared it's head back, flinging Jaune up into the air.

" _What was that meant to accomplish?!_ " Militis asked. Jaune slammed his shield into his sword and watched it transform into the longer sword.

"Exactly what you'd think. Find rest, Militis." Jaune dove down and using the momentum of his fall sliced cleanly through the dragon's neck and slammed into the ground. A piercing silence echoed in the courtyard for a few moments as the dragon's body disintegrated.

Without warning cheers of Jaune's name roared to life from the school as Jaune stood again.

XXX

"He did it!" Militis said excitedly, he felt a peace flow through his spirit as he laughed jovially.

"Do you doubt him now, James?"

"Well you said yourself, I'm not sure of anything anymore."

XXX

"He did it!" Ruby shouted. The students cheered his name and grew more and more excited with each second. Pyrrha herself was overtaken with joyous laughter and cheered the loudest.

" _Se empistevomai,_ " (I trust you,) she whispered with a smile.

XXX

" _Jaune, you did it._ "

"Told you I was going to do it," Jaune said.

" _I'm sorry I didn't believe you,_ "

"Well I didn't get off scot-free," he said nursing his shoulder. "I think I broke my wrist and dislocated my shoulder."

" _Well you'll have plenty of time to rest my boy, they'll be safe. Thank you Jaune._ "

"I did it as much for me as much as you."

" _But they'll be safe, so-._ "

Jaune felt the air rush past him as he three carrier airships zoomed into view and started dropping soldiers. They landed and rushed towards Jaune with guns blazing.

" _Arrogant little bastards!_ " Militis shouted.

"What he said," Jaune muttered.

XXX

"Man we just can't catch a break," Ruby sighed.

"Can we do anything to help him?" Yang asked.

"I can't take down the barriers, so the White Fang can't get in but neither can Jaune. We can't help him."

"There must be something we can do!" Blake argued.

"If I take down these glyphs then I can't put them back up again, Jaune wanted us safe."

"NO!" Pyrrha screamed suddenly. " _Den eimai enas theatis!_ " (I'm not a spectator!) Pyrrha's arms turned black and she concentrated on the airships. The engines of the airships collapsed on themselves and began to descend rapidly, falling out of view and crashing in the distance. She turned and grabbed every single gun the soldiers had and threw them all over the edge of Beacon's courtyard. "If you've got something that can help him do it! We're safe in here but I'm not leaving him to die!" she shouted. "Fight with him!"

XXX

"That was," Jaune started.

" _Interesting._ "

"What was that?"

" _She's fighting with you my boy,_ " Militis said happily. Jaune turned as Pyrrha used her semblance to even the odds for him. She grabbed his sword and threw it into his hand giving him a smiling nod. Jaune turned back to the soldiers and stared at them. " _You're outnumbered and wounded Jaune_."

"What else is new?" Jaune grabbed his right arm and forced his shoulder back in it's socket. He used a bit of his hoodie's shredded sleeve to strap the shield to his hand, saving his broken wrist. He looked back up as some of the soldiers looked around anxiously. "I owe you an apology Militis."

" _For the argument?_ "

"That and it's because of you I know my destiny now. Even if it isn't what I thought it would be."

" _Then you know what you need to do,_ " Militis said somberly.

"Yeah I do." Jaune walked towards the army, sword and shield in hand and cracked his neck. "Next?"

XXX

"Anything you've got can help!" Pyrrha shouted. Students gathered and threw out what they could. Some used telekinesis to stop attacks on Jaune's flank, others put up barriers to make choke points. Pyrrha herself went on a rampage and destroyed every airship that came their way, flinging them like paper airplanes into the horizon.

Jaune kept up his assault, since guns weren't involved he was free to attack and take them out. He didn't kill when he could avoid it, choosing instead to knock unconscious or break limbs to stop the attacks. He wasn't as strong as he was before, but he had the support he needed. Soon the assaults stopped and the soldiers parted to make a path. Jaune looked up just as Adam marched toward him, the other White Fang cheered as he walked calmly toward Jaune. But soon a silence fell when he stopped before him and looked around to the school. He made eye contact with Blake behind one of the glyphs and froze her in fear.

"All of this," he said with disdain. "Was it worth it?"

"If you have to ask, then you don't get it."

"Perhaps," he admitted. "But tell me, when these children see their hero fall what will they do? What will their leaders do to stop them from fleeing in fear? What can they do?"

"You keep thinking that with every one of us you kill that you'll make us weaker, but that's not how this works. Taking away one of us doesn't make us weaker. It doesn't strike fear into our hearts, it just makes us fight harder. So I guarantee you, _if_ you manage to kill me somehow, they'll tear down those barriers and march on you."

Adam's posture changed and he readied his sword. "I'm almost disappointed."

Adam lunged at Jaune in a thrust that Jaune parried to the side, opening Adam up. But Adam was faster than he'd thought and slammed the pommel of his katana into Jaune's ribs. Jaune moved to defend himself but Adam caught him off guard again and threw him down to the ground. Adam scoffed and slammed his boot down on Jaune's right hand to a symphony of sickening breaks.

"Is this truly the battle that decides my destiny? Not even worth the effort." Adam began to move away until he heard Jaune stand up. He turned just as Jaune ripped a part of his t-shirt and tied his sword to his broken hand.

"I never said it was over." Jaune spit a glob of blood from his mouth and took his stance again. Adam went again for the thrust but Jaune knew how to counter, he struck the blade with his and let Adam collide with the shield. Adam moved to slash at his shield arm but Jaune let the sword skid off of his shield and took Adam's legs out from under him. Adam recovered just as Jaune threw himself back, giving him ample room to recover. Adam held his sword and sheath in front of him and began charging his sword. The blade charged and started glowing a deep crimson red.

"NO!" Blake shouted in fear.

Adam quickly withdrew his sword and the energy followed the arc flying toward Jaune. Jaune pointed his sword down and hid it behind his shield as he knelt toward the blast. The energy gathered itself as it traveled and formed a large striking area. When it finally connected the resulting explosion sent smoke and flame in a cascading plume. Adam sheathed his sword quickly and turned back to the school until he heard Jaune stand again. Jaune's shield started glowing brightly now and he marched toward Adam.

Adam simply undid the top button of his shirt and met Jaune's march head on. "You're starting to motivate me."

"Yeah I might actually have to start trying now," Jaune shouted back.

Adam launched two more blasts of energy but Jaune was ready. He dragged his sword across his shield and took the energy head on, the energy was actually absorbed by the shield. Jaune dragged his sword across again and slashed the air twice. An X made of a shining white energy similar to Adam's flew from Jaune's sword.

Adam shot two bullets into the energy to dissipate the arms and dashed through. But he landed just as Jaune slammed his shield into his head. Adam slid back and held the pieces of his mask onto his face. Blake covered her face as Adam threw down the mask and made it shatter into oblivion. Jaune stared in shock as Adam regained his composure, staring into the bloodshot eyes, devoid of pupil, iris, and all color. Jaune's eyes traced the large horizontal line that moved through the pale white orbs and all the way across his face.

"Are you disgusted?" Adam asked with a sneer. "Human justice has that effect on me as well." Jaune just retook his stance and watched as Adam ground the last bits of his mask into the dust. "You try my patience."

Jaune just stood his ground.

Adam sneered again and dashed towards him. Jaune held his shield up but Adam pulled the shield down and kicked Jaune in the jaw. Jaune fell on his back, scrambling madly to get up but Adam slammed his foot down on Jaune's bicep breaking his arm in two. He withdrew his sword and went to stab him but Pyrrha grabbed it first and threw both it and the sheath off the cliff. Adam growled and picked up Jaune by the throat.

"Why!"

He struck him in the stomach.

"Won't!"

A slap in the face.

"You!"

He threw him down into the ground face first.

"Just!"

He ground his heel on the back of Jaune's head.

"DIE!"

He picked Jaune up and carried him over to the cliff ready to end this. But Jaune escaped his grasp and punched him in the back.

"Because I'm not done yet," he said weakly. Jaune threw his sword and shield down to the ground and took a stance as best he could. Adam screamed in rage and tackled Jaune to the ground. Jaune used his training from Pyrrha to maneuver out of his grasp and pin him down. A few of the stray White Fang went to aid Jaune but Pyrrha kept them all at bay by manipulating their metal armor.

Adam freed himself and went to punch Jaune in the face. Since Jaune was so grievously wounded he couldn't get up in time and couldn't dodge it. Adam threw him to the side and grabbed Jaune's sword.

"I will not let you stand in the way!" he shouted.

"In the way of what?" Jaune asked. He slowly got up to one knee staring at Adam through his bloody wounds. "What could you gain from this? If Cinder escapes she'll just put you under her thumb again and you've gained nothing!"

"When all this is over I don't need her! She's used the White Fang for too long!"

"And you don't think she'll do it again?"

"I'll start a fire that will burn this world clean! This shining beacon will be the torch of revolution! We will rise up and claim our destiny!"

The White Fang shouted in triumph but Jaune just shook his head.

"You don't know the meaning of the word," Jaune said. "Destiny isn't what you get when you take from others, it's what you gain from giving all you are to protect those who matter." Adam struck him again and continued to beat him.

"Jaune's aura is depleting! He's almost done!" Blake said fearfully staring at her scroll.

"Can anyone help him?!" Ruby asked.

"We're exhausted, we've done all we can," the others argued.

"No we haven't," Pyrrha said. "Everyone follow my lead!" Pyrrha said. Jaune looked up into Pyrrha's smiling face as she started striking her sword into her shield.

At first it was just one noise, clanking harmlessly in the echoing silence.

But soon it was two.

Then four.

Then twenty.

Before Adam could silence them every student joined in the pounding sounds. A unified percussion that only spurred Jaune on, but drove fear into the White Fang's ranks. Jaune moved to stand again but Adam put the sword against his throat.

"I'll burn this place to the ground, and your little friends will be the embers in the flame!"

"Well that's all you had to say," Jaune said with a smile.

Adam swung Jaune's sword as hard as he could at Jaune's neck but Jaune just smiled.

The deafening clash of steel returned in a brilliant crash as the sword hovered uselessly above Jaune's head. Jaune kept laughing as he stood up and the same sword held itself in the air as someone appeared beside Jaune.

Militis took a deep inhale and felt the life in his body, happily feeling his sword and shield in his hand.

"How are the others doing?" Jaune asked.

"They'll be here shortly, I applaud your subtle hints, but I almost didn't realize what you meant."

"Well I took a leap of faith."

Adam growled again and moved to strike Militis but Militis just threw him aside easily. Adam scrambled up just as an army appeared behind Jaune.

"That's Wudao the Dancer!" Blake said with a smile. "And that's Heishi the Hunter."

"Over there is Polemos the Conqeror! And there's General Drakon!" Weiss marveled at the ones appearing, the other students watched as the army grew covering every spare spot in the courtyard and spilling into the hallways of the school.

Pyrrha simply smiled.

"You showed me your army, now see mine."

Militis flicked his sword against his shield and the sword burst into flames.

"Wait they can do that?!" Jaune asked.

"Well _I_ could, I'm not sure you can."

"Damn, that's cool."

"What are you complaining about, you used the shield to absorb energy and rebound it. I couldn't do that."

"Once again, fair point."

"This isn't over! The White Fang will rise again, even if you kill me!" he screamed.

"I never said I was going to kill you, that was never the goal. In fact we never intended for this battle to go beyond the dawn."

"Then we'll end it before you ever see it!" Adam screamed.

"Too late." Jaune pointed as the sun rose above the mountains illuminating the hundreds of airships headed their way. Bearing down on them and aiming for the White Fang. One of them stopped above and dropped soldiers down right next to Adam.

"Adam Taurus! Drop to your knees and put your hands behind your head!" Adam could only kneel as they surrounded him.

"The dawn has come," Jaune said simply. "We won."

XXX

"Well we won, I mean," Yang said with a smirking shrug. "That's something."

"And with only injuries and no deaths it sends a clear message," Pyrrha said happily.

"A message that we know she received," Professor Ozpin said.

"Still no contact?" Jaune asked.

"Not since the first message to let us know she escaped," Ironwood explained.

"But it's been two months! She should have said something by now!" Ruby said in a huff.

"She's scared," Weiss surmised. "She's obviously needed time to plan."

"And Adam?" Blake asked hesitantly.

"He won't be going anywhere." Ironwood assured her. Blake gave a comforted sigh. "And if what he gave us is accurate it should work."

They waited in silence for moments longer until the familiar black queen popped up on the screen, signaling her call. Ozpin moved to answer but Jaune stopped him.

"Let me talk to her," he asked. Ozpin nodded and moved out of the seat. "Are you ready Weiss?"

"Yes I am, it'll start when you answer."

"Are you sure about this?" Ironwood asked.

"Positive."

Pyrrha helped him sit down and helped move his cast and sling around as he needed.

" _S efcharisto agapi_ ," (Thanks love) he said softly. Pyrrha just smiled and moved out of the way as Jaune pressed the button.

"Have you been waiting patiently, Ozp-." Cinder started but her eyes went wide and Jaune could see the rage in her eyes.

"Hi Cinder," Jaune said with a smile. "How's your arm?"

Cinder panted in poorly veiled rage and opened her mouth to speak.

"Before you start your whole 'I'll have revenge on you and see you burn' speech I want to tell you one thing: You have exactly one chance to surrender. If you do not we will hunt you down."

"You honestly think you can find me, or stop me?" she asked in a growl.

"It isn't my ability you should question, it's my willingness you should question. And considering after you attacked Beacon and threatened the lives of nearly 1,000 students you should be lucky we haven't done anything yet."

"Why would you ever assume I would do such a horrid thing?" She asked adopting her old tone of malice-laced saccharine. "Besides from what I heard it was those dreadful White Fang that attacked you."

"You know I'd be inclined to believe you if Adam hadn't thrown you under the bus," Jaune countered. His good arm moved around different files and usb drives as he spoke. Cinder's smile started to melt away. "Actually with all he gave us it looks like he threw you there, then backed it over you a couple of times for good measure."

"Why would he do that? I've never worked with him."

"He seems to disagree, did you know he recorded your conversations? I bet you didn't."

"None of that matters," she said with a growl. "I know what I want is in that trivial school. I will get it, and I will walk over the corpses of all of you and your friends if I need to." Cinder's eyes grew wide and her malice fueled smile was a sharp contrast to her angry demeanor.

Jaune simply smiled. "That's a dangerous confession to make."

"And why is that?" she asked.

"Because we've been broadcasting this conversation live to all four kingdoms, courtesy of the Schnee Dust Company and the ever-present Atlas Military."

Cinder's face fell and she lost the ability to breath.

"I gave you the chance to surrender. I gave you the chance for this to end without more bloodshed. But you refused. So we will hunt you down."

"You'll never find me," she said in a panic.

"That's true I might never see you again. But the whole of Remnant just got a face for all the horrible things that have been happening and threatening their children and loved ones, so someone's gonna find you. You're now the most wanted woman on the planet, and no one is going to help you." Jaune stood up and stared her down. "Those people you had with you are probably losing faith, and currently weighing their options. We know your people, we know your endgame, we know your game plan. We know your methods, we know your allies, but most importantly Cinder, we know _you_. There's nowhere to run."

Cinder panted in rage but was at a loss for words.

Jaune pulled a white knight from his pocket. "White knight takes Black Queen." Jaune set it down in front of her and smirked as she made eye contact again. "Checkmate."

Jaune left the screens view and left Cinder staring at the simple piece until the communication went out with a scream of static.

"That worked like a charm," Weiss said happily.

"Can I get a copy of that? I want to watch it anytime I need a laugh," Yang said with an ever-growing smirk.

"It's over," Jaune said with a smile.

"And we have you to thank my boy," Ozpin stood a moment later and shook his hand. The students left the faculty in the main room as they walked the empty hallways. Summer vacation was already in swing for most of the students.

"Speaking of 'boy' how is Milits?" Pyrrha asked.

"Resting, and happy. Happier than he's ever been."

"I don't doubt it."

"Well let's see: you raised an army in 20 minutes, you single-handedly slayed a dragon by decapitating it, took out the majority of a hostile terrorist militia by yourself and survived a half hour long beat down from the White Fang's leader. It was a full day," Blake said.

Pyrrha just smiled. "But Nora got the coolest moment of the night, we all know it."

"True," Yang admitted. "Where is she by the way?"

"She went with Ren back to see their parents."

"So where are you guys going for summer? Mistral or back to the Arcs?" Ruby asked.

"I was thinking both actually. It's two long months before the new year," Pyrrha said. "And besides I've always wanted to meet Jaune's sisters."

"Then we should pack for that, we're leaving tomorrow," Jaune said with some urgency.

"Same," Yang said. "Ruby and I are headed to Patch first thing tomorrow and we're bringing Weiss and Blake along for the ride!"

"It's gonna be awesome!" Ruby shouted happily.

"Well then, we'll see you at the first years initiation," Weiss said as she waved goodbye.

"See you then."

XXX

"Come on slowpoke!" Yang shouted into the room. "Don't you wanna hear the headmasters speech to the first years?!"

"I'm coming Yang, I had to finish some business with my family first."

"Yeah yeah whatever heiress, come on, Ruby and Blake are already down there."

"Then let's go!" Weiss shouted excitedly.

The first years gathered in the ballroom just as they had before. The others sat on top of the balconies watching the stage waiting for the headmaster to appear.

"Attention students!" the assistant called out. Her boots clacking against the stage. "The Headmaster of Beacon Academy wishes to speak to you, to give a message for the coming year."

The headmaster strolled onto the stage almost in a whimsical fashion. Ruby and Blake waved to Pyrrha and Jaune who simply smiled back.

"I look into each of your eyes and I see something very familiar," he started, staring around at each of the students. "I see a hunger. A hunger for knowledge, a hunger for belonging, and a hunger for direction. A hunger that I have seen in the eyes of students, faculty, allies and friends for years. Do not lose that, it will be a guiding force for you in the years to come. There are two days that matter most to a person: the day they are born, and the day they find out why."

Jaune gave a sly smirk to RWBY.

"For some that day will come in a moment of valiant heroism, where you stand on the precipice of chaos and peace and give all you have to defend what you love."

The girls excitedly pointed at Jaune and laughed quietly.

"For some that day will be a moment of euphoric realization, that you were meant for something far greater than you had intended." Jaune gave a great big grin to Weiss and Yang who shared the high five in excitement.

"For others that day will be the moment you break the barriers and labels you created for yourself, or that others created for you, when you step in to who you were truly meant to be."

Blake felt her face warm with happiness and she too joined in the excitement.

"And for some it will be the subtle moment you meet the person that will change your life forever, be they friend," Jaune looked over to Pyrrha who smiled back. "Or more than a friend. But one thing they all have in common is that is the day you will step into your destiny and change Remant's history. And it is a day I sincerely hope I have a chance to witness."

The students cheered and it took a moment to calm everyone down again.

"These days will be a journey you will never forget, so take the time to learn the people you fight with. Those are the friends who will stand by your side. If you have any questions about Beacon or the journey you're about to undertake, please ask any of the faculty or my assistant Ms. Nikos." Jaune sighed happily. "This will be an exciting year."

"Well said, Headmaster Arc." Pyrrha stepped up to the mic and smiled. "Now then, let's begin."

The End.

XXX

 _And it's over. Thank you all so much for reading and for all you're support. To all those who favorited the story and followed it, to all you who reviewed it and read it. This story would not be here if it wasn't for you. So thank you so much._

 _Please if you liked my other stories feel free to check out my profile I've got some others including more RWBY stories._

 _Speaking of RWBY stories, I'm going to have a few more coming up soon, they're going to be Modern AU's but I think they'll be fun. I love the characterization of the RWBY cast and it's so easy to take them on new adventures._

 _If you are also interested I have finished my first full length novel called "Nameless" it's an original story that I'm hoping to get published and if you're interested in reading it I would be more than happy to send you a copy._

 _Once again thank you so much for the support and love it's been amazing._

 _Thanks again for reading and I'll see you next time._


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